Précis

"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." Matt Brown, Reporter

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Four Corners program takes you to the battlefields of Iraq with award winning Middle East correspondent, Matt Brown.

"We've been told there's IS in a car and four IS fighters on motor bikes that are supposed to be coming to attack...we're a bit on edge right now." Matt Brown

In this gripping film, Matt Brown and cameraman Aaron Hollett, capture the fight to take back the city of Mosul from the IS forces which overran the city two years ago, shocking the world with the speed and the ferocity of their victory.

"Mosul is the biggest battle anywhere on the planet this century." David Kilcullen, Former Chief Strategist, US State Dept

The filming for this story began in October last year when Iraqi forces, backed by US and Australian air power, began their offensive to reclaim Mosul. Over the course of three journeys to the frontline, Matt and Aaron recorded the experiences of the soldiers fighting to liberate their home towns, and the civilians caught in the crossfire.

"They (IS) would target us and we would lie out on the ground so that bullets would not reach us. Shelling was like rain over our heads." Mosul Refugee

"I feel gutted. I am exhausted. We couldn't treat her. We tried everything. We don't have enough medical equipment. We don't even have emergency assistance, not even ambulances for emergency." Iraqi Doctor

Despite the grief, there are moments of happiness and relief as families are reunited when the IS fighters are pushed back.

"I was running fast just to see (my mother) again. When I saw her it was a great moment. I am very happy and relieved." Kurdish Soldier

After months of fighting, government forces enter the suburbs of Mosul. But the city was far from secure, with the pair coming under fire.

"We've been hearing sniper rounds come in overhead - the distinctive crack or zing." Matt Brown

In interviews, the former commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, General David Petraeus and his then advisor, former Chief Strategist for the State Dept, David Kilcullen, outline just how hard it will be to truly claim victory against IS.

"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 Syria." General David Petraeus (Retd)

Background Information http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2017/02/20/4621182.htm

Driving through desolate landscape. GFX o/lay:
95KMS FROM MOSUL IRAQ OCTOBER 2016

Music

00:11

Bombed buildings

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

00:21

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

00:32

Upturned cars

VOICE:  What about these cars?

00:39

Burnt out vehicles

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

00:43

Iraqi soldiers on tank

00:52

Salam in Humvee

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

00:58

Brown and Salam in Humvee

01:09

View car from Humvee

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

SOLDIER: Yes, yes.

01:12

Brown and Salam walk to car. Super:
SALAM AL SHIMARY
1^st Lieutenant, Iraqi Army

MATT BROWN: What happened with this car?

1ST LT. SALAM AL SHIMARY, IRAQI ARMY: Yeah the last week three 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.

01:17

US Helicopters

Music

01:37

MATT BROWN: US attack helicopters hover above us.

01:41

Billowing smoke in distance

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

01:49

Smoke and flames

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

01:59

Dissolve to GFX
MAP SHOWING THE DIRECTIONAL MOVEMENT OF IRAQI AND KURDISH  TROOPS

Music

02:06

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

02:10

Kurdish tanks

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.

02:20

Awaf Murat. Super:
AWAF MURAT
Kurdish Army

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

02:42

Kurdish soldiers shoot at drone

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.

02:57

Drone plummets

Yes, its coming down.

03:16

Firas with Kurdish troops

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.

03:25

Firas interview. Super:
FIRAS
Kurdish Army

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.

03:43

Unit moves off to front line

Music

03:58

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

04:09

Helmet-cam footage of fighting

Music

04:15

MATT BROWN: As the Kurdish troops close in, IS snipers open up.

04:21

SOLDIER: Sniper, sniper, sniper.

SOLDIER 2: Sniper, sir.

04:28

MATT BROWN: As bombs fly overhead, their machinegun jams.

04:55

After some hasty repairs, they return fire.

05:09

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

05:18

Archival. IS propaganda footage

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

05:29

Petraeus interview. Super:
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS
Commander Multinational Force, Iraq (2007-2008)

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.

05:43

Archival. Petraeus in Mosul

MATT BROWN: Retired General David Petraeus knows Mosul intimately ... he commanded American troops here

06:00

Archival. Saddam Hussein

after the US toppled Saddam Hussein.

06:09

Petraeus interview

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

06:14

Kilcullen interview. Super:
DAVID KILCULLEN
Senior Adviser to General David Petraeus, Iraq (2007-2008)

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 Turkmen population of Iraq.

06:25

Kilcullen working at laptop on table

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

DAVID KILCULLEN: When Mosul fell

06:34

Kilcullen interview

I was furious. I walked around the house smashing things for days because we fought with these guys, we fought with the Iraqis, 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 had someone suggested a magic wand that would have allowed us to kill every single ISIS guy overnight, I would have jumped at that.

06:44

Archival. Caliphate declaration

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

07:06

Kilcullen interview

in terms of global terrorism. It created an ideological rallying point that was much more concrete than what we'd seen in the past.

07:21

Petraeus interview

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

07:30

Kilcullen interview

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.

07:36

GFX Map showing ISIS territory at peak/ ISIS propaganda video beheading

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.

07:47

Road shot of devastation. GFX o/lay:
20KMS FROM MOSUL
27 NOVEMBER 2016

Music

08:05

Ambulances on road. Wounded being put into ambulances and driven away

MATT BROWN:  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.

08:15

Music

08:30

Man by ambulance

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.

08:51

Ambulance drives away

Music

09:01

Ambulance arrives at refugee camp/Wounded men and boy at camp

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.

09:11

Dr Fathi talks with man

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.

09:28

Man at camp

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 threatening injury.

09:40

Interior of medical tent. Dr Fathi with Dunya Uday

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.

09:48

Mohammed crying

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

10:46

Brown with Dr Fathi beside Dunya Uday

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

10:54

Dr Fathi with Brown outside tent. Super:
DR FATHI
Medic

I am very angry to see the patient has died because no ambulance, no help, the patient. I don’t, don’t… [cries]

11:13

Wounded leave refugee camp

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

11:31

Mohammed being carried to ambulance

The little boy, Mohammed, is going with them.

11:39

Dunya Uday’s body being loaded into ambulance

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

11:43

Ambulance departs for Erbil

Music

11:55

MATT BROWN:  Even when the injured make it here,

12:06

Erbil Emergency hospital

they find the hospital overwhelmed.

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

12:08

IS Fighter in hospital

An Islamic State group fighter is brought in.

IS FIGHTER: My left hand is completely smashed.

12:31

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

12:41

IS fighter wheeled away

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

12:45

Refugee camp, winter

Music

12:55

MATT BROWN:  As a damp and freezing winter sets in, the camps are filling up fast.

13:01

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

13:11

Isra Ali collecting food aid

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

13:21

Isra Ali interview. Super:
ISRA ALI

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.

13:33

Isra with family in tent having meal

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

13:54

Isra interview

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

14:04

Isra with family in tent having meal

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

14:19

Isra interview

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

14:27

Music

14:40

Driving shots

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

14:44

Brown with Firas in car

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.

14:52

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.

15:06

Firas visits mother

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

FAWZIYA: Are you good?

FIRAS: I'm good.

15:24

Firas and Brown have tea with mother

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

15:45

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.

15:53

Fawziya interview. Super:
FAWZIYA
Firas’ mother

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

16:05

Brown and Firas walk across rubble to Firas’ home

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

16:19

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

16:28

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

16:34

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

16:42

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

16:56

Remains of destroyed house

Music

17:05

Firas and Brown walk around destroyed home

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 air strike.

17:10

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.

17:28

Firas interview. Super:
FIRAS
Kurdish Army

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.

17:50

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.

18:07

FIRAS: You know what? The air strikes 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.

18:20

Firas at remains of sister’s home/View of homes from car

Music

18:33

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 little country towns.

18:47

Brown in car to camera. Super:
MATT BROWN

We're heading now to one that was occupied mostly by Christians, to see if they are confident enough now to get back into their homes.

18:58

Karemlash village

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

19:08

Brown walks with Father Martin Benni to damaged church

MATT BROWN: So they were here?

FATHER MARTIN BENNI, DIOCESE OF MOSUL:  Yes.

MATT BROWN: Father Martin Benni surveys the damage at the Santa Barbara Church, first established about 1700 years ago.

So what was in this room?

19:19

Inside damaged church looking at IS tunnel

FATHER MARTIN BENNI: There was a tunnel here. ISIS dig this. It was a room for many activities for youth activities.

MATT BROWN: Wow.

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

MATT BROWN: Wow, this is huge.

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

MATT BROWN: Wow. How do you feel that ISIS was using your church?

19:35

Brown with Priest. Super:
FATHER MARTIN BENNI
Diocese of Mosul

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

20:01

Brown to camera in church

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 just 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 Chaldean Aramaic, a version of the language Jesus spoke. These are important stories for them and IS has tried to wipe out the whole record.

20:08

Music

20:52

Brown walks with Father Benni around damaged town

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

20:56

Every street has been scarred.

21:05

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: And also you'll see many houses damaged by them.

21:13

Brown and Father Benni inside church

MATT BROWN: Wow, they've destroyed a lot here.

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

21:39

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

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

22:02

Brown and Father Benni at priests’ tombs

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.

22:18

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

22:29

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

22:41

Music

22:51

Roof of church

MATT BROWN: As we film on the roof of the church its clear danger still hangs in the air.

22:58

Billowing smoke/Brown on church rooftop

That explosion was one or two kilometres 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.

23:10

Smoke blowing over village

Music

23:22

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

23:27

Petraeus interview. Super:
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS
Commander Multinational Force, Iraq (2007-2008)

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

23:39

Kilcullen interview. Super:
DAVID KILCULLEN
Senior Adviser to General David Petraeus, Iraq (2007-2008)

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.

24:11

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.

24:29

Golden Division enter Mosul. GFX o/lay:
OUTER SUBURBS OF MOSUL
19 JANUARY 2017

Music

24:45

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

24:53

Brown in vehicle

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.

24:59

Hanging corpse of IS fighter

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

25:20

Brown on street with soldiers

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

25:25

Driving through Mosul suburbs

Music

25:35

Brown in vehicle

MATT BROWN: This was one of the first suburbs of Mosul that was retaken and just a month ago there was a serious suicide bombing here that killed a lot of people who were coming to get aid, but now there are many civilians getting materials to rebuild their homes and rebuild their lives.

25:43

Traffic chaos

Music

26:03

MATT BROWN:  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.

26:10

Sergeant Hussein holding IS flag

Sergeant Hussein Ali Hassan is celebrating a hard fought win. He personally pulled down this IS flag on a local mosque.

26:51

Hussein interview. Super:
SGT HUSSEIN ALI HASSAN
Golden Division

SGT HUSSEIN 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.

27:03

Soldiers carrying wounded

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.

27:19

Brown into Humvee

Music

27:35

MATT BROWN: The next morning, we head out with the army.

27:38

Shattered window of vehicle

Music

27:40

MATT BROWN:  Their vehicles bear the scars of this long and brutal fight, the windows shattered by sniper fire.

27:50

Brown in Humvee to camera

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

27:58

Music

28:20

Mosul front line

MATT BROWN:  This was IS territory just a day ago.

28:38

Brown to camera, walking down road strewn with debris

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

28:46

Front line fighting

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

29:11

Civilians desperate to escape risk death in the crossfire.

(Voice): They're carrying a white flag

29:23

Brown to camera

MATT BROWN:  We've been told that there’s 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.

29:40

Front line fighting – Helicopters. Fire fight over homes

Iraqi military helicopters move in and a full blown fire fight erupts.

30:03

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

30:26

Residents flee. Walking down road waving white flag

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

30:41

Young man

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.

30:48

Older man

REFUGEE 2: There were explosions, it was really terrifying. Children screaming and women were crying.

31:01

Soldiers detain suspects

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

31:13

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

31:24

(voice): Cursed be Islamic State.

MAN: State of Shit. State of Shit.

31:32

Soldier shows Brown room containing explosives

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

31:38

MATT BROWN: What is this?

SOLDIER: That is TNT and chemicals.

31:47

Soldier

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.

31:54

Soldiers load men into vehicle

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

32:04

SOLDIER: On your feet, on your feet.

MATT BROWN: But it's not always this way.

32:14

Where are they going?

SOLDIER: They are going to the operations centre.

32:21

Internet video of beatings and shooting of detainee. Super:
Internet video

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

32:28

Refugees waving white flag

Music

32:48

MATT BROWN:  Despite their relief at being liberated the local Sunni population harbours long standing grievances against the Shiite dominated army.

32:53

Child fleeing

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.

33:09

Civilians flee

Music

33:33

Night falls over city

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

33:39

Night air strikes. Through to dawn

Air strikes rock the city. At dawn, the onslaught continues.

33:52

Brown on rooftop with soldiers firing

MATT BROWN: Sir, Sniper?

SOLDIER 1: Sniper.

SOLDIER 2: Sniper, sniper.

34:17

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

34:24

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

34:35

SOLDIER 5: They fired on our group?

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

34:40

Soldiers on rooftop

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

SOLDIER 2:   Sayed Ali, really they're in the grove. I swear by the Qur'an they're in the grove.

34:47

Resident on street lifts up shirt

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

35:09

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

35:17

Resident talks with soldier

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

RESIDENT: From whom?

SOLDIER: 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.

35:25

Bombed car in street. Soldiers and Brown pass

Music

35:41

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

35:47

Soldiers walk through residential neighbourhood

Music

35:55

MATT BROWN: Some residents still fear coalition air strikes.

36:00

Resident on street

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

(voice) A bomb.

MATT BROWN: Air strike, an air strike, a rocket.

RESIDENT: Airplane USA come to my house.

36:08

Church of St George

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

36:27

Soldiers fire from church

36:32

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

36:40

Soldiers walk to hamlet

Music

36:51

MATT BROWN:  As the soldiers enter a hamlet on the of the city, locals vent their fury at IS.

37:02

Woman with children

WOMAN 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!

37:10

Soldiers walk through village

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

37:33

Woman talks to Matt Brown

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.

37:38

Soldier interrupts

SOLDIER: Go home. If he didn't have anything, they wouldn't take him. He is working with Daesh. What so you think we are here for?

37:55

Women and children flee. Onto vehicles

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

38:04

Vehicle drives away. Brown to camera on roadside

They're driving fast and the refugees are packed in low because we've been hearing sniper rounds come overhead. 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.

38:23

Soldiers through village

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.

38:46

Petraeus interview. Super:
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS
Commander Multinational Force, Iraq (2007-2008)

But it will not mark the end of the Islamic State in Iraq or certainly in Syria.

39:09

Kilcullen interview. Super:
DAVID KILCULLEN
Senior Adviser to General David Petraeus, Iraq (2007-2008)

DAVID KILCULLEN: The fall of Mosul will not end Islamic State. Contrary to 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.

39:16

Ambulances/Church interior/Fighting

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.

39:31

Residents of liberated village

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.

39:47

Brown on street to camera, then in to barber’s

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

40:00

Barber shaves young man

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.

40:11

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.

40:36

East Mosul market

40:46

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

40:55

Brown with Samer. Super:
SAMER RAAD
Mosul resident

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.

41:09

Driving shots. Leaving Mosul. People walking along road

Music

41:32

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

41:39

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

41:43

Outpoint

42:00