MOSCOW, November 14 (Sputnik) — An audio recording appeared on the internet Thursday which is allegedly that of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; the militant Islamist gives a speech in which he makes renewed calls for jihad, and denies reports that he had been wounded or killed.
“Be assured, O Muslims, for your state is good and in the best condition,” says al-Baghdadi in the recording. “O soldiers of the Islamic State, continue to harvest the soldiers. Erupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere,” he urges his followers.
The audio recording has not been verified, but the voice and cadence of the speaker are purported to match with that of an earlier speech by al-Baghdadi. It was released to Twitter by IS supporters along with transcriptions into Arabic, English, and Russian.
The exact timing of the recording is unknown, but in it al-Baghdadi refers to President Obama’s decision, announced Friday, November 7, to approximately double the number of US ground troops in Iraq, who are intended to advise and retrain Iraqi forces to fight IS.
“Here is Obama, who has ordered the deployment of 1,500 additional soldiers under the claim that they are advisors because the Crusaders’ airstrikes and constant bombardment – day and night – upon the positions of the Islamic State have not prevented its advance, nor weakened its resolve,” declares the self-proclaimed caliph in his 17-minute speech.
In the recording, al-Baghdadi also makes reference to the Monday, November 10 news that an Egyptian militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, has pledged allegiance to IS. The New York Times reported that the group had released an audio statement promising to “obey” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“Sons of creed in beloved Sinai, congratulations and glad tidings,” declares al-Baghdadi in Thursday’s speech.
Reports surfaced on Saturday that the terrorist leader had been wounded in an air strike in Anbar province. The Guardian reported that coalition forces carried out an airstrike on a convoy of vehicles, which killed a senior aide to the IS leader, Abdur Rahman al-Athaee. However, Thursday’s audio release appears to be confirmation that the leader himself escaped the attack.
Al Baghdadi made his only previous public appearance in July, in a video taken in Mosul’s Great Mosque, where he issued a call for Muslims to join him to “make jihad”. According the Telegraph, he told those congregated: “I am the wali (leader) who presides over you,” and hailed what he said to be the victory of jihad and the restoration of the caliphate.
