Nearly 11 months since the last time Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi spoke publicly, the leader of the Islamic State purportedly broke his silence Thursday. ISIS media released a 46-minute audio message that plays a speech by Baghdadi, according to the militant group.It remains unclear when the message was recorded.But its release comes at a troubled time for the Islamic State, whose territorial claims have eroded significantly since Baghdadi was heard from last. The Islamist militants, who once laid claim to a wide expanse of land straddling the border between Iraq and Syria, lost the major Iraqi city of Mosul — where Baghdadi declared the group's caliphate in 2014 — earlier this summer to the Iraqi military. And U.S.-backed rebels are now racing against the Syrian regime to retake the oil-rich province of Deir ez-Zor in Suria. Rebel forces have also pushed progressively deeper into Raqqa, ISIS' so-called capital.The US.-led coalition has rained down more than 5,000 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in August alone.As NPR's Ruth Sherlock notes, the speech reflects such losses:
ISIS Releases Audio Of Leader's Purported Speech, Suggesting He Still Lives
