ISIS Leader Apparently Releases Video For First Time In 5 Years

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in his first public appearance in Mosul, Iraq, in July 2014 (left) and in a video released Monday that purported to show him speaking to supporters.

AP

Nearly five years after the leader of ISIS released his first video, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has purportedly released his second.

It’s not confirmed that the man in the video is indeed Baghdadi. The man acknowledges ISIS’ recent major defeat in the Syrian city of Baghouz and vows to continue fighting.

The man says that “in truth, the battle between Islam and its people against the crusaders and their people is a long battle.”