The Islamic State has released what appears to be audio of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi making his first statement in nearly a year, The New York Times reports. It is not clear when the audio was recorded, although Baghdadi references North Korea's recent threats against the U.S. and Japan, Reuters reports.
Baghdadi's death has been rumored a number of times, most recently in June when the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that a May airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, took out the ISIS leader.
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