Islamic State leader says ‘caliphate’ well
Airstrikes only strengthen resolve, recording says.
BEIRUT— The Islamic State on Saturday released a new message purportedly from its reclusive leader, claiming that his selfstyled “caliphate” is doing well despite an unprecedented alliance against it and criticizing the recently announced Saudi-led Islamic military coalition against terrorism.
In the 24-minute audio recording, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said airstrikes by the international coalition only increase his group’s determination and resolve. The message was al-Baghdadi’s first since May, and comes amid battlefield setbacks that the Islamic State has recently faced.
Meanwhile, a U.S.backed coalition of rebels in Syria — including Syrian Kurdish, Arab and Christian groups — captured a major dam on the Euphrates River from the Islamic State group as part of the coalition’s march on Islamic State-held areas in northern Syria.
The coalition, known as Syria Democratic Forces, announced earlier this week a new offensive aimed at cutting supply lines between Islamic State strongholds in the country’s north. The SDF said it seized the Tishrin Dam, which supplies much of northern Syria with electricity, on Saturday.
The Islamic State has come under pressure in Syria and Iraq, where it has declared its self-styled Islamic caliphate on territory that the militant group controls. It lost the town of Sinjar in Iraq last month, and areas across the border in Syria at the same time. Iraqi government troops are also advancing in the Islamic State-held city of Ramadi, the provincial capital of the sprawling Anbar province, Iraq’s Sunni heartland.
In addition, airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition and Russia in Syria have also destroyed Syrian oil facilities and killed several Islamic State leaders in recent weeks.
“It is unprecedented in the history of our Ummah (Islamic nation) that all the world came against it in one battle, as it is happening today. It is the battle of all the disbelievers against all the Muslims,” al-Baghdadi said.
He said the U.S.-led alliance does “not scare us ... nor do they scatter our resolve because we are the victors in any event.”
Al-Baghdadi also taunted the United States for not putting boots on the ground.
“They do not dare to come, because their hearts are full of fear from the mujahideen,” he said.