The recording also cites current events, including the growing nuclear threat from North Korea, suggesting that it was recorded in recent weeks. In June, the Russian military said it might have killed Mr. Baghdadi in a strike on Islamic State leaders in May near Raqqa, Syria. In July, a British-based monitoring organization, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that senior Islamic State commanders had confirmed that Mr. Baghdadi had been killed in Deir al-Zour Province. The Islamic State has been steadily losing territory in Iraq, Syria and Libya since 2015. The Islamic State has not misrepresented a recording of its leader in the past.

Source: New York Times September 28, 2017 17:15 UTC