BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Islamic State released a video on Monday of a man it said was its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who praised the bombers who killed more than 250 people in Sri Lanka on Easter and vowed that his group would keep fighting until “Judgment Day.”If the man in the video is confirmed to be Mr. al-Baghdadi, it would mark the first time he has shown his face while addressing his followers in five years, since the early days of the terrorist group’s rampage through Iraq and Syria. In an 18-minute video released by an Islamic State media group and distributed by the SITE Intelligence Group, the man identified as Mr. al-Baghdadi sits on the ground in an Arab-style sitting room, his elbow perched on a pillow as he calmly speaks to a group of unidentified followers with an assault rifle at his side. He acknowledges that the group has lost its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria but says that the group’s battle with the West and its allies was far from over.

Source: International New York Times April 29, 2019 17:05 UTC