Presumed dead, Baghdadi resurfaces, calls on Muslims to attack the West

Iraq, Aug 23: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has been presumed dead several times, has resurfaced after a year. In his first speech after almost a year, he has called on the Islamic State to persevere, according to a statement posted on the group's media outlet.

"For the Mujahideen (holy warriors) the scale of victory or defeat is not dependant on a city or town being stolen or subject to that who has aerial superiority, intercontinental missiles or smart bombs," Baghdadi said in a recording posted on his al-Furqan media group.

BREAKING: #isis releases speech from leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi amid reports of his status (ranging from being in a vegetative state to being killed). I’ll be giving details and analysis in this thread. pic.twitter.com/XgLtjYSk2Y

— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) August 22, 2018

His speech is titled, : Give Glad Tidings to the Patient and is around 55 minutes. It may be recalled that his last audio message came on September 28 2017, where he had called on his fighters to mount attacks across the world.

Reaching out to the fighters in Iraq and Syria, he tries to ensure that the ISIS still exists.

He also reminds them about the capabilities of the outfit. Finally he reminds the fighters that they need to continue attacks in Canada, Europe and elsewhere. Attack through both conventional and unconventional means he says while adding that bombs, knives and vehicles could be the weapons of choice.