French Special Services Checking Authenticity Of Video Featuring IS Leader - Minister

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st May, 2019) French special services are engaged in the analysis of the video featuring Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State terror group (IS, banned in Russia), in order to confirm or refute its authenticity, France's Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said.

Media reported Monday that terrorists had published a video featuring a man looking like Baghdadi for the first time since 2014 � the date of recording and the location where it was filmed are unknown. The video shows terrorists having a conversation, during which the man looking like Baghdadi admits the IS defeat in the eastern Syrian village of Baghuz, which had been the last terrorist enclave in the country.

"The video featuring Baghdadi, the 'caliph' without caliphate, should be assessed with caution at this stage. French special services are currently engaged in its analysis," Parly said on Twitter.

According to the minister, the authenticity of the video will mean that the IS has not completely disappeared yet, although it has lost the territories under its control.

Baghdadi's death has been reported numerous times in recent years, but the terrorist leader has re-emerged just as often.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in June 2017 that Baghdadi could have been killed on May 28 of that year in a Russian airstrike in the suburbs of Raqqa. But in September 2017, an alleged audio recording of Baghdadi surfaced, casting doubt on whether the terrorist leader was dead.