New IS spokesman urges fighters not to flee

The Islamic State jihadist group, on the defensive in Iraq and Syria where it declared a "caliphate" two years ago, today presented a new spokesman who urged its fighters not to flee.
The new spokesman was named as Abulhassan al-Muhajer, in an audio message broadcast by Al-Furqan, an IS propaganda organ.
IS has said his predecessor Abu Mohammad al-Furqan was killed earlier this year. The Pentagon said a precision air strike killed him three months ago near the group's de facto Syrian capital of Raqa.
In the audio message, the new IS spokesman called for patience from the group's fighters and urged them to hold fast and "not to flee" the battlefield, promising "victory".

On November 3, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi broke a nearly year-long silence as Iraqi forces closed in on Mosul, urging his jihadists to hold their ground in the city against an offensive launched on October 17.
It was in Mosul that Baghdadi in June 2014 announced the creation of the Islamic caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria.
Today, the IS spokesman called for attacks on Turkey which has troops stationed at a base near Mosul and is also battling the jihadist group in Syria.