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The leader was pronounced dead in 2017 after being killed by Western forces - but reports could not be independently verified and the extremist leader has been reported dead several times.

But with al-Baghdadi’s location and whereabouts unknown and his death unconfirmed, the audio recording claims to have been made by the shadowy extremist leader. It is thought he is in hiding

along the Syrian-Iranian border. According to Haaertz, the ISIS released the 54-minute recording on Wednesday – the first of its kind since al-Baghdadi last made a public speech in

September 2017. Within the tape, the ISIS leader calls on followers to "persevere" and continue fighting their enemies everywhere. CNN reported that within the audio message, he

could be heard telling a congregation of followers that they were being tested with "fear and hunger" and that "glad tidings" will be rewarded to "patiently

persevere" The voice – allegedly that of al-Bahgdadi - is heard saying: "America is going through the worst time in its entire existence.” He also criticized the surrenders of

rebels in southern Syria to President Bashar Assad's forces and branded them traitors. The voice on the recording congratulates followers on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and makes

references to current events. These include US-Turkish tensions over Ankara’s detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Al-Baghdadi is believed to be hiding somewhere in the vast desert

region along the Syrian-Iraqi border. The ISIS leader was said to have been killed as a result of a Russian airstrike on May 28, 2017 in Raqqa. ISIS has lost all of its strongholds in Syria

and Iraq. The group once owned 90 percent of the territory, declaring it as the so-called ISIS ‘Caliphate’. It is yet to be confirmed whether the voice in the recording is that of

al-Bahgdadi, although the media wing of ISIS has confirmed the leader can be heard in the recording.