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In his first statement in 10 months, the Islamic State's spokesman on Sunday called for violence against neighboring Arab nations, suggesting that the group's focus was turning closer to home.

The remarks were a departure from the last pronouncement issued by the spokesman, Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, which aimed to incite attacks against Europe and North America. It comes as the group is retrenching in its core territory after losing all but 3 percent of the area it once held in Iraq and Syria.

In a nearly hourlong audio recording, released inside the group's chat rooms in the messaging app Telegram, the spokesman called on fighters to redirect their ire toward the leaders of Arab nations in the region, whom he described as "apostates," a term the group uses to refer to fellow Sunnis who have strayed from its extreme interpretation of the faith.

The spokesman said there was "no difference" between fighting the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and the Palestinians "and their American Crusader allies, or the Russians or the Europeans." He argued that they deserved to be treated even more harshly because "these are Arabs and are more fierce and vicious against Islam."

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