‘Badly injured’ ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls for more terror attacks on the West in rare audio four months after his last video message
"BADLY injured" ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has released a new message calling for more deadly attacks on the West – four months after he emerged from the shadows.
The latest speech from the terror chief is titled “Do Deeds" and was released as an audio message, according to several reputable sources.
In the 30 minute clip, Baghdadi, whose health is believed to be failing, reportedly tells his followers to "hold good and work as the pioneers of Islam ... the results are in the hands of Allah ... winners or vanquished your place is outstanding with him..."
He also calls on brainwashed jihadis "to resist and lead the fight for five years."
The terror boss also discusses attacks in eight countries over four days carried out by ISIS militants on 92 different targets, according to a translation reported by journalist and author .
He calls the coordinated assaults, which he says have not all been reported on, "unprecedented in modern jihadist history."
The extremist also mentions countries where ISIS still have cells, aside from Iraq and Syria, including Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Tunisia and Libya.
This comes less than five months after the twisted cult leader emerged in an video message revealing that he is still alive.
Experts believe that the frequency of the messages could be a sign that Baghdadi is critically ill and is attempting to rally his followers before he passes away.
He is thought to be hiding in the deserts of eastern Syria and has recently appointed his successor Abdullah Qardash who will oversee the rebuild of ISIS, according to the death cult's propaganda arm Amaq.
RALLYING CRY
The power shift has led to further speculation that the bearded terror boss' health is failing after he was left badly wounded in a 2017 air strike.
Qardash is a former officer in Saddam Hussein’s army who grew close to Baghdadi, 48, when they were both jailed in Basra by US forces for their links to al-Qaeda in 2003.
It was in the Iraqi prison that Baghdadi became a jihadist demagogue converting hundreds of prisoners to his sick vision of a so-called caliphate.
Qardash, whose age is unknown, is believed to have worked alongside him ever since, reports
The Iraqi worked as the brainwashed death cult’s top legislator before his promotion to leader, it has been reported.
His nickname is the Professor and is known as a ruthless policymaker in the group.
IN HIDING
Qardash was also a confidante of Abu Alaa al-Afri, Baghdadi’s previous deputy, who was killed in a US helicopter gun raid in 2016.
Baghdadi reportedly only has a small circle of followers left and is suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.
He is also believed to have been paralysed in a coalition airstrike in May 2017 and hiding out in deserts in eastern Syria.
On April 29, video footage emerged showing the terror chief for the first time in almost five years.
Experts say he has chosen the Professor to manage the terror group’s rebuild – after it was all but wiped out in Syria and Iraq.
Since the fall of Baghuz, ISIS’s last urban stronghold in March, the group has been reduced to pockets of resistance across the two countries.
Fadhel Abo Ragheef, former security analyst with the Iraqi government, said: “Baghdadi isn’t giving up his position. Qardash has a specific authorisation for logistics and movement.
“There are three likely reasons that he authorised another leader: to lock down the holes inside the organisation, or to unite with Qardash, who is popular among other Isis members.
“He may also be trying to prepare Qardash to lead Isis in the future.”
MOST READ IN NEWS
Qardash faces a divided leadership, some of whom may reject his vision and strategy, reports The Times.
With its members scattered in cells across a huge sweep of desert that spans two countries, three main factions have emerged, gathered around Tunisian, Saudi and Iraqi leadership.
Security forces across the region have warned that the remaining cells are strong enough to launch attacks and are ready to step into any power vacuum.
Mr Ragheef believes that Qardash’s promotion could reinvigorate the sick death cult.
He said: “The attacks will not increase with Qardash’s new leadership but they will be more specific,”
“They have a lot of power over large lands, even though their funds have been reduced.”
Who is Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?
- The terror chief is believed to have been born in Samarra, north of Iraqi capital Baghdad, in 1971.
- He was reportedly a cleric in a mosque when the city was invaded by US-led forces in 2003.
- While reports differ on when al-Baghdadi was radicalised, it has been suggested that he was brainwashed in Camp Bucca, a US prison in southern Iraq.
- He was previously the leader of extremist group al-Qaeda in Iraq which eventually transformed into ISIS in 2010.
- Al-Baghdadi’s first public appearance on video was in 2014 when he delivered a sermon in Mosul, Iraq.
- The so-called “caliphate” had been declared by the sinister terror chief and his followers earlier that year.
- Nicknamed the “invisible sheikh”, al-Baghdadi reportedly wears a mask while speaking to his sick band of thugs, reports the .
- Before September, 2017, the last known message from al-Baghdadi was in December, 2016.
- Since the terror boss' disappearance, ISIS have suffered heavy defeats in Iraq, Syria and Libya - including losing control of Mosul in July, 2017.
- There have also been numerous unsubstantiated reports of the death cult leader's demise over the years.
- In November reports emerged out of Iraq that Baghdadi had fled the country in a yellow taxi while at the same time ordering remaining militants to fight to the death.
- An intelligence source how the terror chief picked out the unusual vehicle in a bid to avoid suspicion.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours