- It is unclear when the footage was filmed, but Baghdadi referred in the past tense to the months-long fight for Baghouz, Daesh鈥檚 final bastion in eastern Syria
- Baghdadi, 47, had a long grey beard that appeared dyed with henna and spoke slowly, often pausing for several seconds in the middle of his sentences
BAGHDAD: The Daesh group鈥檚 leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi made his first appearance in five years in a propaganda video released Monday, acknowledging his group's defeat at Baghouz while threatening 鈥渞evenge鈥� attacks.
The world鈥檚 most wanted man was last seen in Mosul in 2014, announcing the birth of Daesh鈥檚 much-feared 鈥渃aliphate鈥� across swathes of Iraq and Syria.
In the video released Monday by the extremist group's propaganda wing, the man said to be Al-Baghdadi referred to the months-long fight for Daesh's final redoubt Baghouz, which ended in March.
鈥淭he battle for Baghouz is over,鈥� he said, sitting cross-legged on a cushion and addressing three men whose faces have been blurred.
He referred to a string of Daesh defeats, including its onetime Iraqi capital Mosul and Sirte in Libya, but insisted the extremists had not 鈥渟urrendered鈥� territory.
In response to the video, a State Department spokesman said the US-led coalition against the group would fight across the world to "ensure an enduring defeat of these terrorists and that any leaders who remain are delivered the justice that they deserve."
The United States has a $25-million bounty on Al-Baghdadi鈥檚 head.
In a segment in which the man is not on camera, his voice described the April 21 Easter attacks in Sri Lanka, which killed 253 people and wounded nearly 500, as 鈥渧engeance for their brothers in Baghouz.鈥�
The man insisted Daesh鈥檚 operations against the West were part of a 鈥渓ong battle,鈥� and that Daesh would continue to 鈥渢ake revenge鈥� for members who had been killed.
鈥淭here will be more to come after this battle,鈥� he said.
The speaker also referred encouragingly to popular protests in Sudan and Algeria, apparently to demonstrate the video was recent.
鈥淭he mention of places like Sri Lanka and Sudan are largely to timestamp the video, to show that it wasn鈥檛 created a long time ago,鈥� said Amarnath Amarasingam, senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
He said the references to lost territory were also an effort to reshape Daesh鈥檚 narrative.
鈥淧art of the importance of someone like him is to contextualize the defeat... to show that this was either an expected turn of events, or that it might be unfortunate but that it鈥檚 survivable,鈥� Amarasingam told AFP.
The speaker appeared in a white-walled room lined with cushions, but it was unclear exactly where or when the footage was shot.
He had a long grey beard that appeared dyed with henna and spoke slowly, often pausing for several seconds in the middle of his sentences.
An older-model Kalashnikov assault rifle, similar to those seen in videos of Al-Qaeda former chief Osama bin Laden, leans against the wall behind him.
At the end of the video, he appeared to examine monthly reports of Daesh鈥檚 global activities, including in areas that have not been officially declared Daesh 鈥減rovinces鈥� yet.
The man in the 18-minute video was identified as Al-Baghdadi by both the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks Daesh, and Hisham Al-Hashemi, an Iraqi expert on the group.