IS leader al-Baghdadi says ‘caliphate’ well despite strikes

For all the scary acts that we associate with Islamic State – beheadings, bomb attacks – it was good to see Twitterati come together to turn the tables on the terrorist organisation’s chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Boxing Day.

The authenticity of the audio could not be independently confirmed but it was posted on Isil-affiliated websites and Twitter as past Isil messages.

Aside from threatening the Israelites, al-Baghdadi also threw arrows at Saudi Arabian rulers whom he referred to as “apostate tyrants” due to their call for war against his extremist group. “If this coalition were Islamic, it would have announced victory and aid to the people of Syria”, he said. A large portion of Iraq and Syria is now covered under ISIS and declared as Islamic State while telling his supporters to endure despite major recent battlefronts setbacks.

Amid various defeats and intense USA coalition and Russian bombing, Daesh released a 23-minute-long speech said to be the voice of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Still, Baghdadi said each trial only makes the group stronger.

Saudi Arabia is leading the alliance against terrorism with 34 member states, though Iran, Iraq and Syria do not form part of the new coalition. He calls on all Muslims to join jihad and mobilizes Islamic prophecy, speaking of the “final battle” in Dabiq – a town in northern Syria where there will be an epic clash against the “armies of Rome”.

It is not known when al-Baghdadi was recorded.

He also promises a battle aimed at Israel and in support of Palestinians, who have been in conflict for centuries in the Middle East.

After Arab Spring activist and author Iyad El-Baghdadi translated the message and tweeted it out to his followers(in disgust), the jokes began. Baghdadi made his fi rst and last public appearances in the summer of 2014 in the Iraqi city of Mosul, which IS holds. He said dozens of IS fi ghters had been killed.

Col. Talal Selo said the rapid advance overnight by thousands of troops from the Democratic Forces of Syria had brought the dam, 15 miles upstream from the ISIS de facto capital Raqqa, under their control on Saturday afternoon.

The Iraqi government forces are backed by air support from an global coalition led by the US. Two senior militant leaders were killed and several others were captured, Gen. Sarhad Kadir, a police commander in Kirkuk, said. Also, it was produced by the al-Furqan Media Foundation, IS media arm. It also halted the planned evacuation of some 4,000 people, half of them jihadists, from the southern districts of Damascus.

‘We will soon meet in Palestine.