00:02:57 REPORTER: We are now on the way connecting Erbil and Mosul. After the IS establishment, communications between the two cities have been interrupted. (Just think that )the distance between the Iraqi Kurdistan and Mosul – and so IS- is only 40 km.
00:03:21 FIXER: So, this is the last check-point to the entrance for Erbil. Still people are coming here, from Mosul, they want to come inside Kurdistan. They run away from ISIS.
00:03:48 OLD REFUGEE MAN: I come from Turkey, I want the settlement visa for staying in here.
REPORTER: Why did you decide to live here?
ORM: Before I was living in Mosul, but because of the state in the city I had to run away. I passed through Turkey because the road between here and Mosul was destroyed by the IS.
R: Did you get the permission to leave?
ORM: At the beginning they allowed people to leave, but now it is impossible.
R: How is living in Mosul now?
ORM: There is nothing there. There are no services: no electricity, no telecommunication, nor water. There isn’t any job for anyone.
R: IS’ propaganda says there is plenty of jobs and services for everyone. Are they lying?
ORM: you will see. Time will be on my side.
00:04:54 YOUNG REFUGEE GUY: I ran away from Mosul and then arrived to Kirkurk, then to Baghdad and eventually by plane to here.
REPORTER: If IS saw you running away, what would happen?
YRG: I would have been convicted.
R: To Jail?
YRG: Jail? They would behead me. IS controls everyone’s daily routine. Everything you have heard about them is true. Even smoking cigarettes is forbidden. They are monsters. Not human being, they are monsters. They fill their mouth with Islam, but they know nothing about Islam.
00:05:52 VO: We are now leaving the checkpoint and moving closer to the last outpost under Pashmerga’s control. We have to cross over a secondary bridge, the main has been destroyed by IS last summer. Caliphate’s aim was to cut any connection with Kurdistan, avoiding any getaway from the city and making more difficult any attack against the city. In mid-September Peshmerga free the area, regaining tens miles.
00:06:21 FIXER: We have to stop here, because the officer has to get the permission inside. We can’t go by our car, because we are in a hot area. He will take us to the front. This area you see it was belonging to ISIS and recently Peshmerga took it back.
00:06:52 REPORTER: From here on, it is under IS control. The village over there, that is a cement plant.
00:07:24 OFFICER: Here we are in the last outpost under Pashmerga’s control. Behind these facilities, there is an IS village called Tarjala. There are a lot of IS terrorist there. They use the cement plant. From here we can control the whole area. Recently, terrorists started to attack us with car bomb. Nowadays we do not have appropriate weapons to push them back.
00:07:47 REPORTER: More than 1000 Peshmerga control this area 24 hours per day since the 15th of September. The whole area was under IS control. Behind this wall there is the IS border, but they do not flag waving since they are scarred by Kurdish.
00:08:09 VO: The origin of IS generated a wave of refugees: 13 million and 600 thousands are the people who left their houses because of the civil war in Syria at first and later for the war against the IS. UNHCR declared the situation as beyond the limits and condemned the indifference of the international community.
In Iraq there are around 2 million refugees, 190 thousands people crossed national border escaping mainly to Turkey. The Iraqi Christian community – 5% of the entire population- is the most affected. Around 120000 Christians have left their own houses since the establishment of the black Caliphate, finding refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan.
00:08:59 OLD REFUGEE MAN: We ran way on the 6th of August from Qaraqosh (Christian city) with nothing. We left everything behind us. All we own is those clothes, the ones we were wearing the night we escaped. IS soldiers arrived all at once. We had 15 minutes to leave our houses. The majority of us escape on foot.
REPORTER: Is still someone there?
ORM: Yes, at the beginning. But then they were carried here safely.
R: Are you here with your family?
ORM: Yes, I am here with my wife and my children: a male of 19 years old and two girls.
R: Did you see the terrorists arriving in Qaraqosh?
ORM: They arrived three days after we left. At the moment there are 95 families here.
R: Are you all coming from Qaraqosh?
ORM: From Qaraqosh, Bartalla and Karamles. At the moment there is not even a school for the kids. Only 20 of them are going to school.
00:10:15 REPORTER: Do you want to go back to Qaraqosh?
CHIEF REFUGEE CAMP: Where shall we go?
R: Can you please explain me why? (io qui metterei semplicemente Why not?)
C: There is little to explain, the IS controls our city. We need the help of the international community’s force. Otherwise we will never be able to go back.
R: As far as you know, Is the Vatican sending you anything?
C: I do not know. But I can tell you we didn’t receive anything. For the Christians there is no life in Iraq.
00:10:54 OLD REFUGEE MAN: I was in Mosul before IS destroyed the bridge. Because of the situation my daughter came from Turkey to get me. Everyone was asking her: “Why are you here? Everyone is running away” she answered that she came to bring me away from here. One day a Muslim named Binan, pretended to be a Christian and offered to help us. He betrayed us. He took all my documents, money, even the citizenship certificate. He only left me my ID, which is here, in my pocket. Someone pick my daughter up in a different car and told me they would arrive straight after us. It is 5 months and I haven’t seen my daughter since then. I asked about her but they threaten to shoot me. Later I got some news; they changed her name in Rita Habiba Ayoub. (with this Phone) I call the terrorist who screw us and get some news on my daughter. He makes fun of me, he says I do not speak Arab but it is not true. I gave my number to all the TV to get some information on my daughter. All I have left are those drugs to alleviate my sadness. I have nothing else.
00:12:19 VO: We find PKK women between the dunes of Iraqi desert. They are far away from the Turkish Government, their sworn enemy who doesn’t want them to fight the same war of the West.
M: In this moment we are at one of PKK training camp. PKK is the Kurdish labour party born under the leadership of Ocalan. The young people behind me are all new recruits. They are now defining the last details before beginning of the training.
00:12:30 REPORTER: In this moment we are at one of PKK training camp. PKK is the Kurdish labour party born under the leadership of Ocalan. The young people behind me are all new recruits. They are now defining the last details before beginning of the training.
00:13:31 PKK WOMEN: We are here because the Iraqi Kurdistan is in danger. Kirkurk is under IS threat. As PKK unit, we came from Turkey to train our brothers.
REPORTER: What do you think about the order given by Ocalan to stop the armed struggle?
PKK-W: It is not exactly like this. When Kurdistan will be a free country, we will stop to fight. Then we will free our president Ocalan from prison. As a woman, I am proud to be a soldier. I do it for my country and for the freedom of my people. As a woman I also fight for the emancipation and for women rights. I am really proud of my role.
00:14:47 REPORTER: We are now passing through Kirkurk, going to the South, We are going to one of the frontline under the PEshmerga’s control. International sources have confirmed that during the night there were fire fights. It seems that IS tried to attack the city. The situation here is particularly tense. We can clearly feel the tension between the Kurdishs – 75% of the population here. The Christians seem tense as well, but they prefer to not talk about it.
00:15:26 FIXER: I go with the Italian journalists; we are going to the front lines around Kirkurk
POLICE MAN: Are they allowed to film? Turn off the camera! I said turn it off!
00:15:47 VO: Later when we arrived in the Arab neighbourhood of the city we understand the reason why there were so much tension at the checkpoint. A suicide bombing few hours ago has killed 20 people and injured many others.
00:16:18 WITNESS 1: I was in that café, I was playing with some friends and then I received a call and I got out. I think I saw the terrorist who blows himself. He was wearing brown clothes as if he was a soldier. HE was as tall as me but with the beard. Before committing suicide he asked and drank a tea. A friend of mine recognised him as a terrorist and tried to stop him but unfortunately he was late and this is the result.
00:16:50 WITNESS 2: I get out of the café 5 minutes before the explosion, I live near here and before arriving at home I heard a loud roar. I saw the car carrying the terrorist running away at high speed. Suddenly everything was on fire. People inside were screaming, but we couldn’t do anything. We could see them, but we couldn’t save them. Because of the explosion a kid was hurl there. Rescues counted 20 dead and many injured.
00:17:55 VO: Kirkurk is surrounded by territories under IS control and it is defended by Peshmenrga. The tension here is palpable. On the 2nd of January IS militants kidnapped a group of 170 men at the city gates because two IS flags were burned in the area.
00:18:17 REPORTER: We are at the front line in Marian Bagged, from here we can see the IS flag at a short distance. They are looking at us (ISIS) in this moment, the flag is really close. Maybe 50 meters?
00:18:44 PESHMERGA SOLDIER: it is 5 months that I am here. IS tried to attack us, but we pushed them back. Three days ago they tried again but we won causing them heavy losses. Thanks to God we are really determinate and brave. I have two children, but I have to stay here defending my land. We will stay here until the end. If God will, we will push them back to Syria soon. Kurdish people are the only one able to create a democracy in the Middle East. A real democracy. Down there, there is the border with the IS. When we open the fire, they hide themselves behind that wall. They also have two emplacements from which they use the AK-47 and the flak. With all our bravery and strength we can defend our country and our people.
00:20:27 PESHMERGA COMMANDER: Iraqi army hasn’t got the strength and the bravery to fight. They are corrupted, losers, even if they have many more weapons than us, they lack of courage to fight the IS:
00:20:59 SOLDIER SPEAKING: Over there, they are beyond that bridge. 150 families live there.
00:21:07 REPORTER: US forces are bombing among the border with the IS. The commander ordered to prepare for action.
00:21:32 VO: The commander asks us to move away from the foxhole since it is not safe after the bombing by the international coalition. Some soldiers escort us to one of the few roads still open between the Kurdistan and the IS. Here we have the occasion to speak with some people.
00:21:50 REPORTER: Peshmerga do not allow us to cross over this grid point. Beyond this, it is officially IS territory. Some of the people behind me might be IS spies, recognise us as foreigners, kidnapping or shooting us.
00:22:14 REPORTER: sorry, are you going to the IS? Are you going to living in the IS?
R: Sorry, how are you?
WOMEN: Fine.
R: Do you live in the IS?
W: No
R: Do you live in the IS?
W:No, look…
R: Do not be scared if you want we can stop filming. Can you tell me how is living in the IS?
W: It is good. WE are refugees from Kirkurk (Kurdistan).
R: Why were you in Kurdistan?
W: We are coming back home because the fights are over.
R: How is living in the other side (ISLAMIC STATE)?
W: Sorry, I do not feel well.
REPORTER: I think they do not want to talk with us. They run away, they are scared. They do not want to answer to our questions. Sorry, just one quick question, do you live in the IS?
W: No.
R: Where are you going then?
W:….
WOMEN 2: we are going to Tikrit.
R: How is living in Tikrit?
W2:Normal.
R: How is the IS with you?
W2: We haven’t met anyone from IS. None.
R: How is it possible?
W2: None.
R: Is it the first time you are going there?
W2: Yes.
R: How do you think it will be?
W2: Good, if God will.
R: Are in Tikrit water, electricity, food?
W2: Yes.
R: A school for kids?
W2: No.
R: Why didn’t you stay in Kurdistan?
W2: Because I have to join my family in Tikrit. Everything is fine.
R: Thank you.
00:25:00 REPORTER: IS militant have just shot and from here we can see their position, they are really close.
00:25:21 FIXER: The sniper shot here
00:25:24 PESHMERGA SOLDIER 1: One of the martyrs died over here, killed by a sniper.
REPORTER: From here is not possible to get up anymore. As soon as the snipers see us they could open the fire. There are a lot of cartridge cases here. They shoot non-stop.
PS1: As soon as they see you, they open the fire. We can walk until there. Let’s go.
00:26:39 REPORTER: We are getting closer to the IS. That is the flag.
PS2: Welcome.
PS1: Let them pass. From here you can see well. We have to cross over.
FIXER: Stand down. They can shoot you.
PS1: Let’s go.
R: Jack stand down!
R: we are under fire in this moment! You can clearly hear the gunfire!
PS1: I think I understand from where they are shooting. Let me hit them back. Take the RPK.
FIXER: Stand down.
PS1: This is enough. We can go now but be careful, you are still young.
00:30:27 PESHMERGA SOLDIER 1: We say that the devil is evil. They are worse than the devil. Other than being evil, they are dirty and shabby. The 30th of September 2014 we went to the village and we capture one of them. It was impossible even touching his hair. It seems he hadn’t showered in months. Each terrorist is like 10 devils in one. Believe me.
00:30:59 VO: The terrorist attacks to Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket in Paris, were for someone a declaration of war to Europe. 4 million French demonstrated against the terrorist attacks by French Algerian close to the IS. At the head of the demonstration, there were 50 leaders from all over the world. It was a unique event in modern history.
Few weeks before, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott convened the National Security committee in order to contrast the frequent terrorist attack by small cells faithful to the IS.
Paris and Sydney are miles away from the actual war against the IS. For someone, the aftermath is a Third World War. Surely, it is a conflict that is breaking the world balances. More countries than those directly involved are fighting, but the main characters do not know yet how to win.