ISLAMIC State (Isis) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urged his forces to keep fighting in Iraq’s Mosul on Wednesday night — as Shi’ite militia cut the extremists’ escape route to Syria.

The leader sent out a recording to the group’s media arm in which he orders fighters to remain resilient and steadfast.

“Oh you who seek martyrdom! Start your actions! Turn the night of the disbelievers into day,” he says.