ISIS Chief Al-Baghdadi Appears In First Video In Five Years, Mentions Easter Sunday Blasts In Sri Lanka

Five years after he was last seen, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) chief Abu Bakr All-Baghdadi appeared in a video released on Monday (29 April) evening by the media network of the terror outfit.

According to a Times of India report, the ISIS leader, in the 18-minute video released by Al Furqan Foundation, mentions the Sri Lanka blasts as wells as the end of the ‘war’ in Syrian town of Baghuz, indicating that the video was filmed recently.

The development comes a week after ISIS had claimed the responsibility for the Sri Lanka Easter Sunday attacks that killed over 250 people and injured more than 500.

As per the report, the release of the video is significant as it seems to confirm that Baghdadi is alive and controlling the operations of the outfit.

The foreign as well as the Indian intelligence agencies are carefully evaluating the ISIS chief’s speech as they reportedly believe that it could fuel global Jihad.

“This video might act as a booster to the Islamic State which is losing the battle on the ground. The video can be used for radicalisation by splinter and IS-inspired groups in India and abroad,” an intelligence officer was quoted in the report as saying.