Al baghdadi, the prominent IS leader features in first video since 2014

He said the battle of Baghouz showed the 'barbarism and brutality' of the West and the 'courage, steadfastness and resilience of the nation of Islam'.

The shadowy leader of the Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi group appeared for the first time in five years in a video released by the extremist group's propaganda arm on Monday, acknowledging defeat in the group's last stronghold in Syria but vowing a "long battle" ahead. Baghdadi's purported video appearance, which was released online late on Monday, was an attempt to boost IS militants and that the group would attempt to carry out more attacks.

Head of the terror group discussed Sri Lanka bombings and vowed to 'avenge' defeat in Syria. Al-Baghdadi, the world's most wanted man, has appeared in public only once, in 2014. It is not clear when the video was recorded. IS says it was shot in April. The footage was posted on the militant group's al-Furqan media network.

1) BREAKING: #ISIS' Furqan issues new video showing leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, marking the first time he is shown in a video since his July 2014 sermon at the Great Mosque in #Mosul pic.twitter.com/cDgOmx7Mhn

— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) April 29, 2019

It is his first video appearance since he delivered a sermon at the al-Nuri mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014. In that video, he appeared as a black-robed figure with a trimmed black beard to deliver a sermon from the pulpit of the mosque in which he urged Muslims around the world to swear allegiance to the caliphate and obey him as its leader.

Al-Baghdadi acknowledged that IS lost the war in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz, which was captured last month by the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

"In fact, the battle of Islam and its people against the Crusaders and their followers is a long battle," he said. Baghdadi says the Sri Lanka attacks were carried out as revenge for the fall of the Syrian town of Baghuz.

At the end of the 18-minute video, an audio segment of Baghdadi's voice praises the attackers who carried out the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka, which targeted churches and mosques, and killed at least 250 people. "This is part of the vengeance that awaits the Crusaders and their henchmen," the voice says.

Baghdadi – whose real name is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim al-Badri – suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and injuries sustained during an airstrike years ago. He remains the world's most wanted man, with the United States continuing to offer up to $25 million for information leading to his location.