Daesh Ringleader Filmed in ‘Remote Area’

A propaganda video released late Monday by Daesh showed a man it said was Baghdadi in what would be his first appearance since five years ago.

Abdel-Mahdi said Baghdadi’s appearance was an attempt to boost terrorists and that Daesh would attempt to carry out more attacks.

“Regarding the location of Baghdadi, we can’t give intelligence information right now but it’s clear from the video that he’s in a remote area,” Abdel-Mahdi said at a news conference on a visit to Berlin, Reuters reported.

Baghdadi is believed to be hiding out in an isolated area of either Iraq or Syria, part of vast desert regions Daesh once held.

Hisham al-Hashemi, a security adviser to the Iraqi government, said officials had narrowed his whereabouts from 17 to a possible four locations.

“These are in the desert of Iraq’s Anbar (province) or in the (eastern) desert of Homs in Syria,” he said.

Abdel-Mahdi said Daesh’s capabilities had “greatly reduced” but that the terror group still posed a threat.

“Daesh is not just a small organization, it’s widespread and will try to put confidence back in its militants and carry out acts such as those in Sri Lanka,” he said, referring to the Easter Sunday attacks claimed by the group which killed more than 250 people.

In the 18-minute video, a bearded man with Baghdadi’s appearance says the bombings in Sri Lanka were Daesh’s response to losses in its last territorial stronghold of Baghouz in Syria.

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