Baghdadi: IS will fight to last man

BEIRUT: The head of the extremist State group has said it will fight to the last man.
The comments by the militant group’s leader, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, came in an audio statement, his first since a US-led alliance began conducting airstrikes targeting the group in Iraq and Syria.
In the statement, released Thursday on social media networks, he says his fighters “will never leave fighting, even if only one soldier remains.”
The recording appeared authentic, and his voice appeared to correspond with previous recordings released by the group.
Baghdadi’s statement came after rumors that he was wounded in an airstrike. It was not clear whether the recording was made before or after the incident.
He also said a US-led military campaign against his group in Syria and Iraq was failing. “Despite this Crusade campaign being the most fierce and severe of all, it is the greatest failure. We see America and its allies stumbling in fear, weakness, impotence and failure.”
The speech was not dated but carried a reference to a Nov. 7 US announcement that President Barack Obama had approved sending up to 1,500 more US troops to Iraq.
“Oh soldiers of the Islamic State...erupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere. Light the earth with fire against all dictators,” Baghdadi said.