New Delhi: Two US officials have admitted that IS Chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has survived the recent airstrikes that prompted rumours about his death, according to some media reports.
The admission comes after IS released a defiant audio recording it said was of chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In the 17-minute message, the man purported to be Baghdadi vowed that IS, which has overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria, will continue to expand despite international air strikes, and that its opponents will be drawn into a ground war.
"Be assured, O Muslims, for your State is good and in the best condition. Its march will not stop and it will continue to expand," said the man in the recording, whose voice sounded like Baghdadi's but whose identity could not be independently confirmed.
Some media reports have suggested that Baghdadi survived as per the audio records and that Baghdadi's voice also seemed to correspond with earlier recordings.
