Don't give up: Baghdadi to IS fighters as Mosul battle rages

Irbil, Iraq: The shadowy leader of the Islamic State group has released a new message urging his followers to keep up the fight for Mosul as they defend the city against a major offensive aimed at routing the militants from their last urban stronghold in Iraq.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s rallying cry came in a sermon-like recording, more than half an hour long, distributed by the militant group’s al-Furqan media arm. It was not clear when the recording was produced. Al-Baghdadi’s whereabouts are unknown.

Iraqi special forces stormed into Mosul’s eastern outskirts on Tuesday after two weeks of advances through surrounding IS-held territory. They continued to consolidate their foothold in the eastern district of Gogjali despite a pair of attempted car bomb attacks on their positions on Thursday.

The city of more than one million people and the surrounding territory fell to IS fighters during the militant group’s surprise attack in June 2014.