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The leader of ISIS has made his first speech in nearly a year, according to a statement posted on the group's media outlet.

If verified to be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the 55-minute long statement would bring the terror leader's 11-month spell of silence, with his last known recording on September 28 last year.

His last message came in the form of an undated 46-minute audio recording n September.

ISIS, which until last year controlled large areas in Syria and Iraq, has since been driven into the desert following successive defeats in separate offensives in both countries.

Baghdadi, who declared himself ruler of all Muslims in 2014 after capturing Iraq's main northern city Mosul, is now believed to be hiding in the Iraqi-Syrian border region after losing all the cities and towns of his self-proclaimed caliphate.

(Image: Reuters)

The secretive Islamic State leader has frequently been reported killed or wounded since leading his fighters on a sweep through northern Iraq.

His whereabouts are not known but Wednesday's message appears to suggest he is still alive.

One of his sons was reported to have been killed in the city of Homs in Syria earlier this year.

"Hudayfah al-Badri...the son of the Caliph...was killed in an operation against the Nusayriyyah and the Russians at the thermal power station in Homs," a statement read.

The word 'Nusayriyyah' refers to Syria's Alawite community.

Despite numerous reports of his own death and repeated attempts by both Americans and Russians to kill him, Baghdadi remains at large.

The latest, unconfirmed, reports place him at Qaim, in Iraq.

Baghdadi is rumoured to have styled himself after the first caliph, Abu Bakr, who led the "Rightly Guided" or Rashidun.

In June 2014, he was elected head of ISIS.

(Image: US DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Three years before, in October 2011, the United States added him to the Specially Designated Nationals List and announced a reward of up to $10million US dollars for information or intelligence that would lead to his capture or death.

In December 2016, the US increased that figure to $25million US dollars, equal to the reward offered for the capture or death of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Earlier this month, Islamic State's media arm released a video of four boys it said were behind multiple attacks on police targets in the Russian region of Chechnya.

Three of them brandished big knives and the youngest held up a phone with an Islamic State flag displayed on the screen as they pledged allegiance in Russian to Baghdadi.