ISIS releases audio of leader al-Baghdadi after reports he was surrounded in Mosul

Earlier today there were reports that the leader of ISIS, Abu al-Baghdadi, was surrounded in Mosul by anti-ISIS forces and could be killed soon. In order to dispel the rumors, ISIS has released a recording supposedly of Abu, which encourages their fellow terrorist scumbag supporters.

Here’s the earlier report:

The Iraqi Army has entered Mosul for the first time in over two years at the start of a battle which is likely to end in a decisive defeat for Isis. The significance of the fight for Mosul will be all the greater for Isis because its self-declared caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is believed to be still inside the city, a senior Kurdish official has told The Independent.

Fuad Hussein, chief of staff to Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, said in an exclusive interview that his government had information from multiple sources that “Baghdadi is there and, if he is killed, it will mean the collapse of the whole [Isis] system.” Isis would have to choose a new caliph in the middle of a battle, but no successor would have the authority and prestige of Baghdadi, the leader who surprised the world by establishing the caliphate after capturing Mosul in June 2014.

Baghdadi has kept himself concealed for the last eight or nine months according to Mr Hussein, who added that the caliph had become very dependent on Isis commanders from Mosul and Tal Afar, a city just to the west of Mosul. Other senior and better known figures in Isis, particularly those from Syria and other countries, have been killed since their initial triumphs in the summer of 2014 when they took over much of northern Iraq and eastern Syria.

And a translation from excerpts in the message:

Oh good, let’s hope they’re all “empowered” by their enemies’ bullets through their brains.

But this is a pivotal observation:

The fact that he doesn’t mention Mosul means the recording might have been made anytime prior to this, and that he is actually being besieged. If they’re able to kill him, that doesn’t mean ISIS falls apart, but it would definitely be an enormous blow to the terrorist group, as they believe that al-Baghdadi is a direct descendant of Muhammad, and thus worthy of the title “caliph.”


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