IS bans Friday prayers in Tal Afar, pledges posting audio recording by Baghdadi

Tal Afar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State has canceled the Friday prayers at all mosques in Tal Afar town, west of Mosul city and pledged posting an audio recording for the group’s leader to show he is still alive, a local source said.

“IS militants have banned the Friday prayers at all of Tal Afar mosques after a curfew was imposed in the wake of heavy shelling against procession of a prominent Arab leader there,” the source from Nineveh province told AlSumaria News on Friday.

In related news, the source, who preferred anonyimity, said, “IS distributed brief statement vowing to post a new audio recording for its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to show he is still alive.”

The militants, according to the source, “began to feel that Baghdadi’s disappearance and growing news over his death raise concerns of the group leaders and members, especially in Tal Afar, which could create divisions and conflicts on posts and profits.”

News reports circulated over the past few weeks have claimed that Baghdadi was killed in an airstrike in Syria.

Earlier this week, a source was quoted as saying that non-Iraqi IS militants executed the last local leader in Tal Afar and the town is currently run by Arab and foreign members after eliminating all the Iraqi leaders.

Tal Afar is one of the important strongholds still held by IS in Nineveh since August 2014.