'No Mosul retreat,' warns IS leader in audio message

'No Mosul retreat,' warns IS leader in audio message
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called on his fighters to resist as Iraqi forces were poised to enter the city of Mosul.
2 min read
03 November, 2016
Mosul was captured in June 2014, after which Baghdadi declared his 'caliphate' [Getty]
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called on his fighters to resist as Iraqi forces were poised to enter the city of Mosul where he declared a "caliphate" two years ago.

"Do not retreat," said a voice presented as belonging to the leader of the Islamic State group in an audio message released early Thursday by the IS-affiliated Al-Furqan media.

"Holding your ground with honour is a thousand times easier than retreating in shame," he said in the message, his first in more than a year.

"To all the people of Nineveh, especially the fighters, beware of any weakness in facing your enemy," Baghdadi said, referring to the northern Iraqi province of which Mosul is the capital.

Rumours have abounded about the Iraqi extremist leader's health and movements but his whereabouts are unclear.

Mosul was captured by the IS group in June 2014, after which Baghdadi declared his 'caliphate' from a mosque in the city.

A coalition offensive on Mosul began on October 17 and is expected to be a long and difficult battle to unseat the extremist group from their Iraqi stronghold.

According to the US military, IS has 3,000 to 5,000 fighters inside Mosul and another 1,500 to 2,500 in the city's outer defensive belt. The total number includes around 1,000 foreign fighters.

Earlier this week, an Iraqi general said that Iraq's Special Forces had entered the outskirts of Mosul, taking the state television building and advancing despite fierce resistance by Islamic State group fighters who hold the city.

It was the first time Iraqi troops have set foot in the city, Iraq's second largest, in over two years. The advance could be the start of a gruelling and slow operation for the troops, who will be forced to engage in difficult, house-to-house fighting in urban areas that is expected to take weeks, if not months.

Agencies contributed to this report