„Elusive Islamic State leader Abu Bkr al-Baghdadi called upon residents of Mosul on Thursday to fight what he said are the enemies of God, and called on ISIS fighters to destroy the Iraqi city’s ‚infidels‘ and invade Turkey.In a 31-minute audio recording published by the organization ‚Al-Furkan‘ under the title ‚This is what we were promised by Allah and His messenger,‘ two weeks after the beginning of the Iraqi military’s operation to liberate Mosul, Baghdadi mainly addressed the battle for the ISIS-held city. He warned his men against retreat or escape from battle.
‚Total war and the great Jihad is waged by the Islamic State today, with Allah’s help we amplify our strong belief that everything is dedicated to the great victory,‘ said Baghdadi in his first released tape of this year. ‚It is a sign heralding the victory that Allah revealed is assured to His followers.‘ Baghdadi added that ‚Jews, Christians, Shiite heretics and all nations have allocated their media, all their money, all their equipment, and all their armies to fight against Muslims and jihadi fighters in Mosul after they saw it as one of the bases of Islam and a beacon of the caliphate.‘“