The Islamic State (IS) group has released an audiotape which it says is from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ordering Iraqis to defend the city of Mosul against the Iraqi army.
The recording has not been verified yet but analysts believe it is genuine. Baghdadi’s whereabouts are unknown. Some officials have said he may be inside Mosul alongside IS fighters.
It comes as Iraqi army forces continue their three-front advance on the city, the last IS stronghold in the country. Mosul is where Baghdadi declared a caliphate two years ago. Iraqi forces have already retaken dozens of villages and towns on the outskirts of the city, with the help of Kurdish Peshmerga forces, Shia Muslim militias and Sunni Arab tribesmen.
Baghdadi’s rallying cry was timed to coincide with the entry of Iraqi forces into the outskirts of Mosul, at a critical moment for the group. Some of his comments appeared to betray concerns that military pressure on the group in Mosul might lead to a broader erosion of support. He called on his fighters to obey their leaders, warned Iraqi Sunnis of the consequences of turning against IS and appealed to IS’s far flung outposts to stay loyal to the group – from Indonesia to West Africa. Baghdadi rarely speaks publicly, but the last time he did so – in December last year – he delivered a similar mix of defiant insistence on ultimate victory combined with implicit acknowledgment of setbacks on the ground.