Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 'no longer in Mosul'

Western intelligence sources believe the Daesh leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is no longer in Mosul, UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson has said.

Johnson said Baghdadi’s audio recording issued on Thursday calling for the defeat of the Iraqi forces fighting to liberate Mosul was “cruelly ironic since some of the intelligence we have suggests he had himself vacated the scene and is yet using internet media to encourage others to take part in violence”.

In his first address in a year, Baghdadi called on his supporters to “wreak havoc”, saying the struggle was a prelude to victory. Daesh fighters patrolled the Mosul streets broadcasting Baghdadi’s call.

According to the Guardian, there is widespread concern that, despite a year of planning, there is little agreement among the many ethnic groups in the region on the future political structure of Mosul or the surrounding Nineveh province.

Mosul is a multi-ethnic city, but the large Sunni population is reportedly fearful that liberation will lead to massacres by Shia militias determined to take reprisals against those who collaborated with Daesh.