The shadowy leader Islamic State
group ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to appear for the first time in
five years in a video released by the extremist group's propaganda arm on
Monday. It is his first video appearance since he delivered a sermon at the
al-Nuri mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014. The man said to be in the
video also claimed the Easter Day bombings in Sri Lanka which killed nearly 300
people were `part of the revenge` that awaits the West. He acknowledging defeat
in the group's last strong hold in Syria but vowing a `long battle` ahead. `Our
battle today is a war of attrition to harm the enemy, and they should know that
jihad will continue until doomsday,` Baghdadi said.The video appeared to be
aimed at boosting the morale. He bragged his group carried out 92 attacks in
eight countries to avenge the loss of territory in Syria, citing Sri Lanka,
Libya, and Saudi Arabia, without offering evidence for his claim. Despite
numerous claims about his death in the past few years, Baghdadi’s whereabouts
remain a mystery. Many of his top aides have been killed, mostly by
U.S.-led coalition airstrikes. He is among the few senior IS commanders still
at large after two years of steady battlefield losses that saw the self-styled
`caliphate` shrink from an area the size of Britain to a tiny speck in the
Euphrates River valley.The video released by a media outlet run by the
extremists, Al-Furqan, shows Baghdadi with a bushy grey and red beard, wearing
a black robe with a beige vest and seated on the floor with what appears to be
an AK-47 rifle propped up next to him. He is speaking with three men seated.
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