Excerpt
SUMMARY: Two years ago, Islamic State troops stormed Mosul, Iraq. Today the city is the militant group's last remaining urban base in the country, but Iraqi forces, backed by the U.S. and others, are preparing to drive them out. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports from Qayarah, Iraq, in partnership with Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Now the first of three reports this week on the fight for Iraq.
Thirteen years after the U.S. military invasion, the country still struggles to stand on its own, as it faces profound challenges, none more dire than the threat posed by the Islamic State, which controls parts of the country.
Tonight, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, special correspondent Jane Ferguson and producer Jon Gerberg look at the coming crucial battle to reclaim the city of Mosul from ISIS and to drive it from Iraq once and for all.
JANE FERGUSON, special correspondent: Hungry and crushed together in the punishing sun, these Iraqis, refugees in their own land, desperately grasp for food.
They have fled south of Mosul City, where fighting between government forces and ISIS has been raging for months. New offensives have ISIS in retreat, but with their homes, and all they know, engulfed in the battle, they have come here.
Escaping from Mosul just days ago, this woman says she and her family of seven were lucky to get away. Running away from ISIS is dangerous, and she didn't want to be identified.
WOMAN (through translator): There are many people who want to leave, but cannot. The ones they catch, they break their legs. They just use a block on the sidewalk and break their legs. If the person has already gone very far, they just kill them.
JANE FERGUSON: We are 60 miles south of Mosul. Just up the road, these troops are fighting the ISIS insurgency. Iraqi special forces have already pushed ISIS from many areas of the country. The battles have been tough, destroying almost everything in sight.
The Iraqi army has fought for months over these areas south of Mosul City, swathes of land and villages just like this that they have been pushed out of. But even though they retook this land several months ago, civilians have yet to return.
These soldiers now have their sites set north, planning to take back the city of Mosul, the Islamic State's last remaining major urban base in Iraq.
At 23, Mahmoud has fought and won several battles against the group. And these men are ready to take Mosul.
MAHMOUD DUYOUL SABBAGH, Iraqi Special Forces (through translator): By God, my morale is high. Praise be to God. Praise and thanks be to God. We will kick is from Mosul.
"The controversial force joining the fight against ISIS" PBS NewsHour 10/5/2016
Excerpt
SUMMARY: Militia groups, made up mostly of Shia fighters and often backed by Iran, have become instrumental in the charge to drive the Islamic State from Iraq. But their battlefield presence makes them a controversial force -- many militia members are accused of war crimes and have killed Americans. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
"In Fallujah, ISIS is gone — but so is everything else" PBS NewsHour 10/7/2016
Excerpt
SUMMARY: An hour west of Baghdad, Fallujah used to be a thriving population center. Two years ago, it was overtaken by the Islamic State. The Iraqi army regained control of the city in June but now faces another hurdle, rebuilding. In over a decade of warfare, nearly all of Fallujah has been destroyed. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports in conjunction with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
FOR REF:
- Sunni Islam (ISIS/ISIL are the far extremists, NOT all Sunni are followers of ISIS)
- Shia Islam
- ISIL/ISIS/DASH
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