Transcript

20 February 2016 - Highway to Hell

SARAH FERGUSON, PRESENTER: Welcome to Four Corners. Tonight we take you to the heart of the war against Islamic State.

The battle to wrestle the city of Mosul from is control has reached its most critical phase with the Iraqi government announcing yesterday it had begun the offensive into the city's densely populated western suburbs. It's expected to bring the bloodiest urban warfare in an already fierce conflict.

The largest city in northern Iraqi, Mosul has been occupied by is forces since being overrun in June, 2014. It was here that the Islamic State leader announced the formation of his caliphate.

So, this crucial battle will shape the future of Islamic State and the nature of global terrorism for decades.

Middle east correspondent, Matt Brown, and camera man, Aaron Hollett, have made three dangerous trips to the conflict zone for Four Corners since the battle for Mosul began four months ago.

Their report makes for an extraordinary gripping journey - and be prepared for some distressing scenes.

MATT BROWN, REPORTER: On the road to Mosul, signs of a nation ravaged by the war with Islamic State.

Bombed building on your right, bombed building there. There's another one coming up on the right.

CAMERA MAN: Yeah cars.

MATT BROWN: Strewn by the side, the wreckage of an IS convoy, pulverized by Iraqi troops a week before we arrived.

Salam al Shimary and his men, who were trained by Australian commandos, have been in a gruelling fight against IS, which they call Daesh.

MATT BROWN: Can we get out and go and have a look at that car?

SOLDIER: Yes, yes.

MATT BROWN: What happened with this car?

1ST LT. SALAM AL SHIMARY, IRAQI ARMY: Yeah the last week 3 car Daesh come here to kill any enemy about the village but the Iraqi army and the tank kill and destroyed three car and kill any Daesh here. This Daesh, this car had three Daesh here.

MATT BROWN: US attack helicopters hover above us.

IS has set oil wells ablaze, hoping to stop the US led coalition from launching devastating airstrikes.

The whole place feels on the brink of chaos and the war against IS hangs in the balance.

As the Iraqi army moves up from the south, Kurdish troops attack IS towns to the east and north of Mosul.

The Kurds run an autonomous region in the north. While they're often at odds with Baghdad they've formed an unlikely and unstable alliance to fight IS.

They've been the West's most consistent ally in this war.

AWAT MURAT, KURDISH SOLDIER: I'm very happy today I'm very happy today because, because we are face to face to finish Daesh.

MATT BROWN: As we're filming they spot an IS spy drone overhead and open fire.

(To cameraman): Drone up here mate... there it is, drone.

Yes, its comin' down.

For some of the Kurdish troops, known as Peshmerga, this fight is personal.

Firas' home town is just beyond the front line and his mother is still trapped under IS control.

FIRAS, KURDISH ARMY: If we miss our children after 10 to 20 days imagine if a mother doesn't see her son for two years. How could it be? Thanks to God, with God's help, I will definitely see her again.

MATT BROWN: Firas' unit moves up to the front lines and their helmet cams record the battle.

As the Kurdish troops close in IS snipers open up.

SOLDIER: Sniper, sniper, sniper

SOLDIER: Sniper, sir

MATT BROWN: As bombs fly overhead their machine gun jams.

After some hasty repairs, they return fire.

By day's end, they have IS on the back foot, but there's a long way for this battle to run.

When Islamic State seized control of Mosul in 2014 it shocked the world and signalled a new era in global jihad.

GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ (2007-2008): The Islamic State that we saw sweep into northern Iraq in particular, this was really an army. This was not an insurgent force, it wasn't terrorist cells, this was really a conventional army that had enormous experience from the Syrian battlefields.

MATT BROWN: Retired General David Petraeus knows Mosul intimately ... he commanded American troops here after the US toppled Saddam Hussein.

GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS: To see what we'd fought so hard to achieve together with our Iraqi partners, ah just be undone so rapidly was, it's like a blow to the solar plexus.

DAVID KILCULLEN, SENIOR ADVISER TO GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, IRAQ (2007-2008): If you control Mosul, you control northern Iraq. If you control northern Iraq, you basically own the Sunni and Turkman population of Iraq.

MATT BROWN: David Kilcullen, a former Australian soldier, was a senior advisor to General Petraeus during the Iraq War.

DAVID KILCULLEN: When Mosul fell I was furious. I walked around the house smashing things for days because we fought with these guys, we fought with the Iraqi's, we'd got the country back to a position of relative stability and then it all fell apart in a matter of months and if someone suggested a magic wand that would have allowed us to kill every single ISIS guy overnight, I would have jumped at that.

MATT BROWN: The leader of IS, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi appeared in a Mosul mosque to declare the birth of the Caliphate.

DAVID KILCULLEN: The declaration of the Caliphate really changed the game in terms of global terrorism. It created an ideological rallying point that was much more concrete than what we'd seen in the past.

GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS: And it marked in a lot of ways this was arguably the high water mark in fact for the Islamic State.

DAVID KILCULLEN: Islamic State essentially stamped itself as having come out of the shadows, no longer being a terrorist organisation, but really being what it claimed to be, a state.

MATT BROWN: At its peak IS controlled about a third of the populated area of Iraq and Syria and unleashed a wave of terror that struck fear into the hearts of Iraqis and westerners alike.

When we return to Iraq in November hopes of a quick victory have been dashed.

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding. And the sick and the wounded stream out of the city.

MAN: There are no doctors in our region. The family asked me to bring him in the car and I brought him here. There is no medical assistance.

MATT BROWN: Some of the casualties are treated at a rudimentary clinic in a refugee camp just down the road.

They've been hit by shrapnel and sniper fire.

A medic, Dr Fathi, is trying to arrange care for two injured children hit in a mortar strike.

Their neighbour says they went to a military clinic but were turned away.

MAN: The Peshmerga told us that we weren't allowed in and that we should go to the camp. Even though we told them that it was a life threating injury.

MATT BROWN: Inside the medical tent we come across a distressing scene.

DR FATHI: This patient has died, died, died

MATT BROWN: Dead

DR FATHI: Dead. died... died.

MATT BROWN: She's dead.

Little Dunya Uday died of a head injury.

Her distraught brother, Mohammed is lying, unattended, beside his dead sister.

DR FATHI, MEDIC: We tell all the ambulance to the mobile please come here the patient is very tired, is bleeding. No answer.

I am very angry to see the patient has died because no ambulance, no help, the patient.

MATT BROWN: The wounded can't stay here - they're to be transferred to the Kurdish capital, Erbil.

The little boy Mohammed is going with them.

Then, the body of his sister is bundled in - the dead on top of the living.

Even when the injured make it here they find the hospital overwhelmed.

Here civilians have to wait their turn while doctors attend to wounded soldiers as well.

An Islamic State group fighter is brought in.

IS FIGHTER: My left hand is completely smashed

MATT BROWN: He's handcuffed - but not treated.

Then, he's taken out the back door… his fate unknown.

As a damp and freezing winter sets in the camps are filing up fast.

The fighting in Mosul forces ten thousand people a week from their homes.

Isra Ali is one among more than 100 000 Mosul locals now forced to survive on international aid.

ISRA ALI: We thought that we would never make it out alive. The shelling was so intense.

They would target us and we would lie out on the ground so that bullets would not reach us. The shelling was like rain over our heads.

Isra and her large family had already endured more than two years of harsh Islamic State rule.

ISRA ALI: They were really frightening. They would yell at women. They would insult the man take his I and, lash him. If he shaved his beard they'd lash him or if his wife wasn't wearing her veil.

MATT BROWN: The schools became factories for fundamentalism and Isra kept her children home.

ISRA ALI: I saw the books received by our neighbour's son. It was all about bombs, weapons, how to shoot. It wasn't a proper school curriculum.

MATT BROWN: In this unforgiving land amidst all the tragedy and suffering, there are glimmers of hope.

Firas, the Kurdish Peshmerga fighter I met on my first visit in October, has liberated his home town.

And, against the odds, he has, been reunited with his mother who survived for two years under IS rule.

FIRAS, KURDISH ARMY: When I was on the way I couldn't believe that I was going to see my Mum again. I was running fast just to see her. Believe me, even when I saw her I couldn't believe my eyes.

MATT BROWN: His mother, Fawziya is overjoyed every time he stops by.

FAWZIYA: Are you good?

FIRAS: I'm good.

MATT BROWN: Over hot tea, she recounts her relief when the army arrived after living so long in fear.

FAWZIYA, FIRAS' MUM: I had very good feelings. I dance a lot, sang a lot...It was great moment.

MATT BROWN: Fawziya worried she'd never see Firas or his three brothers again…

FAWZIYA: Yes, there was fear. We were all psychologically disturbed. We were scared. Thanks to God now it's like paradise.

MATT BROWN: Firas' own home has not been spared in the battle.

(to Firas) Wow it's really been destroyed.

IS fighters even used his wife's lipstick to scrawl their brand on the bedroom mirror.

FIRAS: This is Daesh. They've written, Islamic State. This is Daesh.

They did a lot, they hurt people. They damaged everything. They didn't leave everything.

MATT BROWN: Amidst an eerie winter fog Firas takes me to what was once his sister's home.

It's been destroyed, not by IS, but in an airstrike.

The bomb hit at 5am. His sister and seven other family members, were all home - and killed in an instant.

Their bodies lay under the rubble for two weeks before anyone could come and dig them out.

FIRAS: It cannot be described. What to say? If someone loses eight members of his family at once what happens to him? It is extremely hard.

MATT BROWN: The US led coalition says it's probably killed at least 199 civilians in its air strikes.

Not even allies are spared the agony of collateral damage.

FIRAS: You know what? The airstrikes did not do a good job.

If they see one Daesh they would kill 100 civilians with him. The target was one person. It didn't matter that there was a family.

MATT BROWN: When the Islamic State group took control of Mosul they quickly expanded into the countryside and their reign of terror was imposed on a whole series of country towns. We're heading now to one of those occupied mostly by Christians to see if they are confident enough now to get back into their homes.

The little Christian village of Karemless, was amongst the first to be conquered by IS.

MATT BROWN: So they were here?

FATHER MARTIN BENNI, DIOCESE OF MOSEL: yes

MATT BROWN: Father Martin Benni surveys the damage at the Santa Barbara Church, first established about 17 hundred years ago.

So what was in this room?

FATHER MARTIN BENNI There was a tunnel here they, they ISIS dig this it was a room for many activities for youth activities.

MATT BROWN: Wow

FATHER MARTIN BENNI Priest: We have many camps before but now when ISIS was here they dig this

MATT BROWN: Wow this is huge.

FATHER MARTIN BENNI Priest It's a huge tunnel yeah.

MATT BROWN: Wow. How do you feel about Isis was using your church?

FATHER MARTIN BENNI Priest: We were very sad to see. We don't know why. They tried to destroy our history our churches.

MATT BROWN: If you look carefully signs of the Islamic State group's extremism are everywhere. Look here just a little cross on this ancient church they've tried to wipe it out. It doesn't stop there. Here's another cross inside, trying to obliterate every symbol of Christianity here. It's a huge investment of time and energy to get a jackhammer and come in here. I'm told by the people from this Church this is (inaudible) Arameic a version of the language Jesus spoke. These are important stories for them and IS has tried to wipe out the whole record.

A walk to the centre of town reveals an extraordinary level of destruction...

Every street has been scarred.

MATT BROWN: And another one?

FATHER MARTIN BENNI: Yes this one is a normal family, they don't know them.

MATT BROWN: Not a politician, not a priest just a rich family.

FATHER MARTIN BENNI Priest: and also you'll see many houses damaged by them.

MATT BROWN: Wow they've destroyed alot here.

FATHER MARTIN BENNI Priest: This was the statue of Christ, the statue of Mary, the altar where we do our mass, they broke it.

MATT BROWN: How do you feel when you see this?

FATHER MARTIN BENNI Priest: I don't know, I feel of course very sad. I was hoping my ordination would be here but it didn't happen.

MATT BROWN: They even desecrated the tombs of priests.

FATHER MARTIN BENNI: Priest: They dug some of them

MATT BROWN: They dug some up?

FATHER MARTIN BENNI Priest: Like that one

MATT BROWN: Oh my goodness

FATHER MARTIN BENNI Priest: Yes This is the tomb of father Gharib, father Gharib he was serving in Mosul and he was killed by al Qaeda in 2007.

MATT BROWN: Wow, the history just keeps going? Yes with three deacons in Mosul. And they've smashed his headstone.

As we film on the roof of the church its clear danger and uncertainty still hang in the air.

That explosion was one or two a kilometres or two away but it was a big one because I felt it. I felt it hit. And it's an example of how unpredictable things still are here.

It's one thing to retake a village. Quite another to retake a whole city.

GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS: The battle for Mosul is so difficult because ah it is so large. Urban fighting is always hard. Ah but in this case you have a very determined enemy, ah an enemy that in many cases has literally fought 'til death. Ah you have suicide bombers in substantial numbers. A very diabolically ah barbaric and determined ah ferocious enemy.

DAVID KILCULLEN: Mosul is the biggest battle anywhere on the planet this century in terms of the numbers of troops engaged, but also in terms of the size of the city and the number of civilians around. Even now several months into the battle, there are still three quarters of a million civilians in the city. Liberating the outlying villages from Islamic State is one thing, moving into the suburbs is another, getting into the actual downtown area is yet again another level of bad.

MATT BROWN: It's our 3rd trip to Iraq. The battle is reaching a crucial stage.

We drive into Mosul with the elite Golden Division. They've declared victory in east of the city but the fight is far from over… and the soldiers remain on edge.

The entrance to town is marked by the hanging corpse of an IS fighter.

The soldiers tell me he confessed to being a senior member who'd beheaded four families. He's been shot in the head.

This was one of the first suburbs of Mosul that was re taken and just a month ago there was a serious suicide bombing but now there are many people who are coming to rebuild their homes rebuild their lives.

With the return of civilian life comes traffic jams. Breaking them up with gunfire is nothing out of the ordinary.

We move on into newly recaptured suburbs.

Sergeant Hussein Ali Hassan is celebrating a hard fought win.

He personally pulled down this IS flag on a local mosque.

SGT HUSSEN ALI HASSAN, GOLDEN DIVISION: It's the feeling that only Iraqis would feel fighting for his country. Fighting for the sake of the innocent patriots who were hurt by terrorism that killed their children. With God's will, we were able to bring back a little bit of joy for the people of Mosul and the families of innocents.

MATT BROWN: The three -month battle has killed and injured thousands. Sgt Hussein's unit alone lost a quarter of their men: 18 dead and 100 wounded.

The next morning, we head out with the army.

The vehicles bare the scars of this long and brutal fight, the windows shattered by sniper fire.

Just our security adviser who's in the Humvee in front. That's rocket fire. We're getting very close now to the frontline. There are civilians here, plenty of them. But this is obviously an active combat zone.

This was IS territory just a day ago.

This is probably the last frontline in Mosul. Just past body parts squashed on the side of the road. I didn't want to show you, but pretty disgusting. You can see all the way along here there's been heavy combat, plenty of military vehicles have been destroyed.

IS is holding out in the suburbs just below this observation post.

Civilians desperate to escape risk death in the crossfire.

(Voice): They're carrying a white flag

We've been told there is ISIS in a car and four ISIS fighters on motor bikes that are supposed to be coming to attack the Iraqi army positions. They're a bit on edge right now.

Iraqi military helicopters move in and a full blown firefight erupts.

Civilians still live here but it's an unrelenting attack.

After enduring days of fighting some of the residents make it to safety.

REFUGEE: It's indescribable. It was a disastrous life. They destroyed us. They tormented us. We didn't have proper nights or days. No food or water. We were dying from fear.

REFUGEE: There were explosions, it was really terrifying. Children screaming and women were crying.

MATT BROWN: A few houses away the soldiers detain two suspected IS fighters.

This old man, insists they're innocent - and denounces IS.

(voice): Cursed be Islamic State.

MAN: State of Shit. State of Shit.

MATT BROWN: But the soldiers insist they have proof and take us to see the evidence.

MATT BROWN: What is this?

SOLDIER: That is TNT and chemicals

SOLDIER: We opened the door and we entered only to find missiles and suicide belts. There was a closed door where Daesh fighters had been inside before.

The soldiers take all three men into custody. With us looking on, everything is done by the book.

SOLDIER: on your feet, on your feet.

MATT BROWN: But it's not always this way. where are they going?

Soldier: They are going to the operations centre.

Many soldiers boast about beating detainees - or even worse and they have the videos to prove it.

Despite their relief at being liberated the local Sunni population harbors long standing grievances against the Shiite dominated army.

We see signs of that bitter divide when a soldier shouts 'we are Shia' and shoots over the head of a fleeing child.

SOLDIER: Praise the Shia

MATT BROWN: It's not the way to win hearts and minds and that will be crucial to the broader war against IS.

There's no electricity here and after the sun goes down the city falls into darkness.

Airstrikes rock the city. At dawn, the onslaught continues

MATT BROWN: Sir, Sniper?

SOLDIER 1: Sniper

SOLDIER 2: Sniper, sniper

SOLDIER 3: Do you see it or not. It's from there.

SOLDIER 4: They fired at us from that direction where the enemy is.

SOLDIER 5: They fired on our group?

SOLDIER 6: Yes, on our group. On our officers

SOLDIER: No no no. The palms, the palms The grove, grove.

MATT BROWN: Sayed Ali, really they're in the grove. I swear by the Qur'an they're in the grove.

It's easy to see how relations here could turn sour.

This man complains his house is being shot at even though there's no IS around.

SOLDIER: Was there any movement during the night over there?

RESIDENT: From whom?

RESIDENT: From Daesh.

RESIDENT: I swear I stayed at home and my house was hit.

SOLDIER: So, there were no movements?

RESIDENT: I am telling you that I was staying there and I didn't see anybody.

MATT BROWN: The highway past this point has not been cleared of roadside bombs so the soldiers take the backway into the next front.

Some residents still fear coalition airstrikes.

RESIDENT: In my house I have daughter and my sister I, I sound big sound...

(voice) a bomb.

MATT BROWN: Airstrike, an airstrike, a rocket.

RESIDENT: Airplane USA come to my house.

MATT BROWN: The soldiers have taken up a position at the Church of St George.

They pour fire down onto IS fighters holed up in the suburbs below.

As the soldiers enter a hamlet on the of the city locals vent their fury at Islamic State.

RESIDENT: They hurt us. They did not spare anyone. May Allah kill them. I curse Daesh, I curse their fathers! Thieves, thugs, bandits! May Allah grant you victory over them!

MATT BROWN: But there's also confusion about who was with the enemy.

This woman complains her son has been detained for no good reason -but the soldiers won't listen.

RESIDENT: They said he was with Daesh. After that they took the paper and an officer took my son away.

SOLDIER: Go home. If he didn't have anything, they wouldn't take him.

SOLDIER: He is working with Daesh. What so you think we are here for?

MATT BROWN: As more people flee the front line, it's clear IS snipers are not far away.

They're driving fast and the refugees are packed in low because we've been hearing sniper rounds come over-head. The distinctive crack or zing of a round followed by the thump that's made when a rifle is fired in the distance. There's another one. So they've made it out, under fire.

MATT BROWN: The battle for Mosul is only half won. IS still controls the western side of the city.

And the fight will not end here.

GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS: The liberation of Mosul from the Islamic State will be a very, very important achievement and a milestone in the battle against the Islamic State. But it will not mark the end of the Islamic State in Iraq or certainly in in Syria.

DAVID KILCULLEN: The fall of Mosul will not end Islamic State. Contrary to that, the expectations of a lot of people, it will probably actually result in a spike in terrorism around the region, possibly in Europe and maybe even in Australia and the United States. The Islamic State has had a tendency to react to loss of territory by striking externally and I think that's what we're likely to see again.

MATT BROWN: For many of the residents it's time to put the distress of the past two years behind them and try out simple, new freedoms.

The men in this village are making a big show of shaving off their beards and the local barber is back in business.

What may seem just cosmetic -hairstyles and beards - is also symbolic. IS used brutal authoritarianism to alter the appearance of a whole community.

This young man is having a trim that would have landed him, and his barber in deep trouble.

BARBER: First they would take me to the headquarters. I would sign a pledge that I wouldn't shave like this and they would lash me and take my ID.

For the people of East Mosul, at least, this could be the beginning of a new era.

MATT BROWN: And how do you feel now?

SAMER RAAD, MOSUL RESIDENT: So good it's a new life I just born. I just born now. Yes, so good thank God and thank Iraqi army. They released us yesterday, yesterday yes and now the life is so good, so good and we will keep it good.

MATT BROWN: As we drive out of Mosul, it's hard to share that optimism...

So many people in need of hope. So many reasons to fear the worst.

SARAH FERGUSON: As the offensive into western Mosul gets under way there are fears now for the safety of hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in that part of the city.

And if you'd like to talk to reporter Matt Brown about his experience in Mosul he'll be taking questions live on the ABC news Facebook page.

Next week, the oceans of plastic that we discard ... how much of it ends up in the sea and in our food chain.