ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Appears in First Video Since 2014

Al-Baghdadi Vowed Admitted Defeat in Battle for Stronghold, But Vowed “Long Battle” and Discussed Easter Day Bombings in Sri Lanka

Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared for the first time since 2014 in a video acknowledging defeat in the last stronghold in Syria. However, the leader rumored to be dead vowed to wage a “long battle” in the video published by Al-Furqan, the Islamic extremist group’s media propaganda outlet.

“In fact, the battle of Islam and its people against the Crusaders and their followers is a long battle,” he said speaking across from three men whose faces were covered and obfuscated.

The SITE Intelligence group said al-Baghdadi also discussed the Easter Day Islamic terror attacks in Sri Lanka, which killed more than 250 people. The U.S. State Department confirmed “several” U.S. citizens were among the dead.

While local authorities blamed a local extremist group, U.S. intelligence belief it is unlikely the group didn’t have help.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the horrific attack on Christians. The U.S. is offering $25 million for information leading to the capture of ISIS leader. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is one the few remaining senior ISIS commanders still alive and at-large since the group’s battefield defeat under the Trump Administration.

In just two years, the Islamic terror army suffered one battlefield loss after another and watched their so-called “caliphate” stripped away from an area the size of Great Britain to a geographically minuscule hold out in the Euphrates River valley.

Last month, ISIS was defeated in the Syrian village of Baghouz by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

In the video, al-Baghdadi appears seated on the floor with what appears to be an AK-47, or other version of the Russian-made Avtomat Kalashnikova propped up next to him.