Message purportedly from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Says: 'Islam was never a religion of peace. Islam is the religion of fighting'

The leader of Islamic State has declared 'Islam is the religion of fighting' in a rare audio message which called on all Muslims to 'fight for the caliphate'.
Islamic State released the message yesterday claiming it was from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the extremist group executed 26 civilians before reaching the gates of an ancient Syrian city amid fears they could destroy it.

The audio message posted on militant websites features a voice that sounds like al-Baghdadi's exhorting all Muslims to take up arms and fight on behalf of the group's self-styled caliphate.
In it the leader, who had not been seen or heard from in months, said: 'Islam was never a religion of peace. Islam is the religion of fighting. No one should believe that the war that we are waging is the war of the Islamic State.'

It is the war of all Muslims, but the Islamic State is spearheading it,' he said. 'It is the war of Muslims against infidels.
'O Muslims go to war everywhere. It is the duty of every Muslim.'

It was not immediately possible to verify whether the voice was al-Baghdadi's.
The last audio message purportedly from the Iraqi-born fanatic came in November, days after Iraqi officials said he was wounded in an airstrike on a town near the Syrian border.

Al-Baghdadi has only appeared in public once, in a video showing him delivering a Friday sermon in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul last July, shortly after it was captured by his group.
In the latest message, al-Baghdadi blasted Arab rulers, calling them 'guarding dogs' and saying the war in Yemen will lead to the end of the Saudi royal family's rule.

Meanwhile Islamic State fighters executed 26 civilians as they swarmed through villages near the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.
The militants beheaded 10 of their victims as they advanced to the gates of the world heritage site today, raising fears it could face destruction of the kind the jihadists have already wreaked on similar sites in Iraq.



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