Video surfaces from IS leader who was thought to be dead

The Islamic State group has released an audio message purportedly from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has not been seen or heard from in months. The audio message posted on militant websites features a voice that sounds like al-Baghdadi’s exhorting all Muslims to take up arms and fight on behalf of the group’s self-styled caliphate. The speaker references the Saudi-led air campaign against Shiite rebels in Yemen, which began on March 26, and harshly criticizes the Saudi royal family. It was not immediately possible to verify whether the voice was al-Baghdadi’s.

And we call upon every Muslim in every place to perform hijrah [emigration] to the Islamic State or fight in his land wherever that may be.

from audio message purportedly by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Meanwhile, a Syrian official called on the international community today to protect the 2,000-year-old ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra, now threatened by advancing Islamic State militants. Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s director-general of antiquities and museums, told the Associated Press that the U.S.-led coalition, which has been striking the extremists in Syria since September, should expand its raids to hit IS fighters battling government forces at the gates of Palmyra.

If Daesh [an Arabic acronym for IS] enters the city, it will be a human catastrophe. It will mean destroying the temples, ruins and tombs.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s director-general of antiquities and museums

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