- ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in a video released by the group's propaganda arm.
- The video, dated to early April, is Baghdadi's first since 2014 and shows him discussing recent events, including ISIS losses in Syria and bombings in Sri Lanka.
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BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of the Islamic State group has appeared for the first time in 5 years in a video released by the extremist group's propaganda arm.
The video released by Al-Furqan on Monday shows Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appearing with a bushy grey and red beard, wearing a black robe with a beige vest and seated on the floor with what appears to be a machine gun propped up next to him.
He sits cross-legged on the floor gives an 18-minute address. Several aides with their faces covered are shown listening.
Written script at the start of the video dated it to earlier in April. It is his first video appearance since he delivered a sermon at the al-Nuri mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014.
The SITE Intelligence group said al-Baghdadi acknowledged in the video the defeat in the battle for Baghouz, the group's last stronghold in Syria, and discussed the bombings in Sri Lanka that killed more than 250 people.
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