With an assurance of 72 virgins, here is what Baghdadi said in his farewell speech

'Return to your countries or detonate yourselves,' the IS chief's statement said.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Caliph and chief of the Islamic State made a farewell speech while acknowledging defeat in Iraq. A statement by Baghdadi titled Farewell Speech was distributed among all the preachers, clerics and fighters. "Return to your countries or detonate yourselves," was the message he had in his statement.

The statement came in the wake of the Iraqi army getting a grip over the last remaining territory of the IS in Mosul. Bhaghdadi while ordering the closure of the ISoffice. He gave the non-Arab fighters two options while promising them 72 virgins in heaven. He said they must either return to their home country or detonate themselves.

Following the offensive by the Iraqi army, several IS fighters have fled to areas in Syria where the group has a grip on. It is however unclear whether the fighters in Iraq would look to return to their home country.

Experts and analysts say that one must not consider the farewell speech as a retreat. The dangerous signs that one gets from the speech is where the self declared Caliph tells the fighters to return home. Over the past year, Baghdadi had directed his fighters several times to return to their home country and carry out lone-wolf attacks.

It was always pointed out by several intelligence agencies across the world that the fall of the IS in Iraq or Syria could lead to attacks in other parts of the world. The 'in the name of the IS', concept has been doing the rounds for long. The IS was well-aware that it cannot battle the international forces in Iraq or Syria.