(CNN)The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria finds itself under growing pressure on several fronts, facing battlefield setbacks in both countries. In a new audio message Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State, has warned of difficult times ahead, saying "the whole world" is united against the Islamic State.
Al-Baghdadi's 24-minute message -- his first since May -- appears to have been recorded in the past two weeks. The ISIS leader talks of a "general war" in which the "caliphate" is up against the West, Russia and their Arab allies -- specifically Saudi Arabia. The recording was released Saturday by ISIS' Al-Furqan Media.
"Do not be amazed by the meeting of the nations of disbelief and groups against the Islamic State," says al Baghdadi. "If we are killed and the wounds are numerous and the problems amassed against us and the hardships are great, then it is no surprise either."
Mounting challenges
Those problems for ISIS are multiplying. The Iraqi military said Monday that it had retaken the city of Ramadi, the largest city in Anbar province which the terror group seized in May. Iraqi military officials report that ISIS has abandoned government buildings it occupied in the heart of the city.
In northern Iraq, ISIS is also struggling to keep open supply lines into Mosul, after the capture by Kurdish Peshmerga in November of the strategic route linking the city with the group's Syrian territory.
ISIS leader mocks coalition against it
In Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have inched closer to Raqqa, ISIS' administrative headquarters, and took the Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates River, just 13 miles north of the city. This latest advance by the Kurdish-led SDF threatens to further erode ISIS' access to the Turkish border through the town of Manbij.
The SDF are still some way from Manbij, which ISIS is expected to defend fiercely. But the area has a substantial Kurdish population, and activists claim that ISIS has begun executing Kurds in Manbij to deter an uprising.
