ISIS leader Baghdadi appears in a video for the first time in five years

Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi, the chief of ISIL in a video released recently accepted the pledges of allegiance of extremists terrorist groups from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Burkinofaso and Mali. 

Foreign media reports point to Terrorism analysts group SITE, who claim that Baghdadi said "Your brothers in Sri Lanka have healed the hearts of monotheists [ISIL members] with their suicide bombings, which shook the beds of the crusaders during Easter to avenge your brothers in Baghouz,".

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi surfaced Tuesday in a video for the first time in five years, indicating that he has survived the territorial defeat of the caliphate he proclaimed and retains overall control of the group.

According to the Washington Post the message of congratulations to the Easter attackers in Sri Lanka is delivered in a separate, audio segment at the end of the video, suggesting that it was added after the video was made. Baghdadi described the attacks on churches and hotels, in which at least 250 people died, as revenge for the deaths of Islamic State fighters in the battle of Baghouz, and not for the white extremist attack on two mosques in New Zealand in March, as the Sri Lankan government has claimed.

“This is part of the vengeance that awaits the Crusaders and their henchmen” he said, according to a translation provided by the SITE monitoring service.