Isis Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 'Seen For First Time In 5 Years' – Here's Why It Matters

If verified, the clip could be proof Baghdadi is still alive, despite Isis losing all of its territories.
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A still image taken from a new video purporting to show Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Australian Associated Press

So-called Islamic State has released a video purporting to come from its “leader” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has not been seen for five years.

The terrorist organisation’s media network published a message from Baghdadi saying the group will seek revenge for militants jailed and killed.

In the video, a bearded man with Baghdadi’s appearance said Isis was responsible for the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, which claimed at least 250 lives.

The man said the attacks were in response to the loss of Isis’s last territorial stronghold in Baghouz, Syria, last month.

If verified, the video would be the first from Baghdadi since he was filmed in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014, though more recent speeches have been released as audio recordings.

There had been conflicting reports over whether Baghdadi - an Iraqi - is still alive.

And security sources have recently said he is thought to be hiding out in remote areas of Syria or Iraq.

A written script at the start of the new video dates it to earlier in April, and he can be seen sitting cross-legged on the floor giving an address to several aides with their faces covered.

The speaker looks like a slightly older version of Baghdadi than when he was pictured in 2014, addressing followers from a pulpit to declare a caliphate stretching across Iraq and Syria.

In the footage released on Monday, he is dressed in black robes and a beige waistcoat, with a long greying beard dyed red at the bottom. The authenticity and date of the recording could not be independently verified.