Military vehicles of Iraqi army take part in an operation against Islamic State militants in Qaraqosh, near Mosul, Iraq, November 2, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
KOKJALI/BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi told his followers on Thursday there could be no retreat in a "total war" against the forces arrayed against them, as advancing soldiers battled into their northern Iraqi stronghold of Mosul.
Expressing confidence that his Islamic State fighters would prevail against Shi'ite Muslims, Western "crusaders" and Sunni "apostate" countries Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Baghdadi called on the jihadists fighting in Mosul to "wreak havoc".
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