BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said on Tuesday that the video showing the leader of the state organization Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was filmed in a remote area, while another Iraqi official said officials had reduced the places where Baghdadi might be from 17 to four.

Abdul Mahdi did not specify in which country the region was located. He told a news conference during a visit to Berlin that he could not give intelligence at the moment about Baghdadi's location, but stressed that it was clear from the recording that al-Baghdadi was in a remote area.

The remarks came hours after the emergence of the leader of the Islamic State Organization Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - on Monday, for the first time in five years - in a propaganda video published by the organization through its channels on the implementation of the Tigram.

In the photo-op, published by the organization's al-Furqan Foundation and titled "In the hospitality of the faithful," al-Baghdadi shows a long, half-white beard with a black cap on his head and the ground and others hide their faces.

The date of the video is not clear, but al-Baghdadi says at the beginning that "the Battle of the Baguz is over," referring to the expulsion of the organization from the last pockets in eastern Syria nearly a month ago.

In the 18-minute video, al-Baghdadi vowed that the organization would avenge his killing and imprisonment. He said the group's fighters carried out 92 operations in eight countries.

Abdul-Mahdi said he could not give intelligence at the moment about the location of al-Baghdadi (Reuters)

Organizational capabilities
Commenting on these statements, the Iraqi prime minister said that the organization of the state is not only a small organization, but a widespread organization and will try to restore confidence back to its fighters and carry out attacks such as the Easter holiday in Sri Lanka this month, which claimed responsibility, but added that the capabilities of the organization Has greatly diminished.

Al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi, is believed to be hiding in an isolated area of ​​Iraq or Syria from the vast desert areas controlled by al-Qaeda and is believed to be launching guerrilla-style attacks against security forces in the two countries.

For his part, the security adviser to the Iraqi government Hisham al-Hashemi that officials have reduced the places where the presence of al-Baghdadi from 17 to four, adding that it is located in the desert of Anbar province of Iraq or the desert of Homs in eastern Syria.

A US-backed campaign ended state control over land in Iraq in late 2017 and in Syria last month, nearly five years after the organization seized vast territory in both countries.