{"id":13675,"date":"2018-08-22T21:42:35","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T21:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/22\/first-purported-audio-recording-of-islamic-state-leader-released-in-nearly-a-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:35:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:35:55","slug":"first-purported-audio-recording-of-islamic-state-leader-released-in-nearly-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/08\/22\/first-purported-audio-recording-of-islamic-state-leader-released-in-nearly-a-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Purported audio recording of Islamic State leader released, the first in nearly a year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIRUT \u2014 The Islamic State group has released a new audio message, purportedly of its shadowy leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first such recording to emerge in almost a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the audio, the speaker urges followers to \u201cpersevere\u201d and continue fighting the group\u2019s enemies everywhere. The 54-minute audio, titled \u201cGive Glad Tidings to the Patient,\u201d was released by the extremist group\u2019s central media arm, al-Furqan Foundation, late Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S.-led military coalition fighting the war on IS said it could not yet verify it was al-Baghdadi\u2019s voice on the recording, or even whether he was still alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Col. Sean Ryan, a military spokesman, said al-Baghdadi has been \u201cirrelevant for a long time\u201d but remains a priority target in the war on the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Baghdadi\u2019s only public appearance was in 2014 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul<\/a>, shortly after the group declared the establishment of its so-called \u201ccaliphate.\u201d The extremist group has since lost around 90 percent of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\t