The Islamic state (ISIS) group released an audio on Thursday urging its followers to target "media centres of the infidels" and burn their enemies everywhere. The militant group also claimed that the audio message was of their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
In the recording, the ISIS leader vowed to continue fighting and praised his jihadis for their valour on the battlefield, despite them losing their control over the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in July.
Reports state that the audio message was released by then Islamic State-run al-Furqan outlet, which has previously released messages from top leaders of the extremist group, including al-Baghdadi. The audio message, which was 46 minutes-long, sounded similar to the previous messages released by al-Baghdadi.
"You soldiers of the caliphate, heroes of Islam and carriers of banners: light a fire against your enemies," said al-Baghdadi in the video. The message comes amidst several reports of confirmation of the ISIS leader's death.
"You soldiers of Islam, supporters of the caliphate everywhere, step up your attacks and include the media centres of the infidels and the headquarters of their ideological war among your targets," he said in the recording, apparently alluding to Western news outlets and research centres.
Baghdadi had declared his Islamic caliphate ISIS in Nuri Mosque in central Mosul three years ago.
In June, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov had said that the ISIS chief was 'highly likely' to have been killed in Russian fighter jets airstrike in Syria's Raqqa city. Russian lawmaker Alexei Pushkov had also said that the probability of ISIS leader's death after Russian airstrikes are about 100 percent.
"If he were alive, then as a demonstration of power and as a mean of increasing war morale, a refutation would have been already announced," Pushkov argued in a statement made to Sputnik.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard had also verified Baghdadi's death, and the report is supposedly confirmed "through multiple channels".
The ISIS leader's death has been reported on multiple occasions over the recent years, with no possible confirmation of his demise.
