ISIS to get ‘tougher’ in face of airstrikes: Audio recording

A purported audio message by Islamic State’s leader said air strikes by Russian Federation and by a US-led coalition had failed to weaken the group.

In the rare, 23-minute audio statement, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said the USA and its allies “have learned” from previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was posted today on Twitter accounts that usually publish Islamic State statements.

“The Israelis will soon see us in Palestine”, he vowed.

The French news agency AFP reported that the speaker also called for an uprising in Saudi Arabia and pledged to attack Israel. “It is the obligation of every Muslim to carry out Jihad”, Baghdadi said, according to a separate report in the Jerusalem Post. God has gathered you in Palestine so that the Mujahadeen can reach you soon and you will hide by the rock and the tree.

The Islamic State group on Saturday released a new message purportedly from its reclusive leader, claiming that his self-styled “caliphate” is doing well despite an unprecedented alliance against it and criticizing the recently announced Saudi-led Islamic military coalition against terrorism.

Al-Baghdadi urges Muslims across the world to join the fight, saying it is their Islamic duty to rise up everywhere.

An alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups, backed by USA coalition planes, said it captured a Syrian dam on Saturday from Islamic State, cutting a main supply route of the militants across the Euphrates. Iraqi government troops are also advancing in the Islamic State-held city of Ramadi, the provincial capital of the sprawling Anbar province, Iraq’s Sunni heartland. Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service reported that since violence began on September 13, 24 Israelis have been killed in attacks, and an additional 267 have been injured.