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Baghdadi’s return heralds the Islamic State’s next act

By Jamie McIntyre
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Baghdadi’s return heralds the Islamic State’s next act

HE’S BACK: As the end of the ISIS caliphate drew near, the hope that the group’s elusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would be captured or killed began to evaporate. Now, after a five-year absence from public view, he’s back in the form of a video released by ISIS’ propaganda arm.

Baghdadi has been reported seriously wounded or killed several times over the years, notably by Russia, which said last year he died in an airstrike that targeted a gathering of senior ISIS commanders near the Syrian city of Raqqa. At the time, a Russian lawmaker quoted by the Interfax news agency said the likelihood he was killed was close to 100 percent.

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