How is Mosul Being Liberated?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2017
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mosul is today the scene of the largest battle on Earth. Some 100,000 soldiers, police and militiamen are bearing down on the ancient Iraqi city. Backed by Western air power, their mission is to drive out the so-called Islamic State fighters who’ve occupied the city since 2014. Mosul holds enormous symbolic value to both sides. The IS leader declared himself “caliph” there; the Iraqis want to avenge their defeat there nearly three years ago. Between them are hundreds of thousands of civilians. The UN says they face "extreme risks": water, food and fuel are already scarce. This edition of The Inquiry tells the story of the campaign and asks how the final phase could end.
(Photo: An Iraqi Special Forces soldier climbs through a hole in a wall as he searches for Islamic State fighters in Mosul, Iraq, 2017. Credit to: REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC |
| 0:35.4 | Sounds. Last October in the middle of the night, Iraq's Prime Minister broadcast a message to the city of Mosul. |
| 0:54.0 | Dear sons of Mosul, he said, I declare the start of the heroic operations to liberate you. |
| 1:06.5 | As he spoke, armored columns began rolling toward this ancient city. |
| 1:14.2 | Their mission to dislodge fighters from so-called Islamic State who've run Mosul for almost |
| 1:19.8 | three years. |
| 1:21.8 | God willing to do that. three years. |
| 1:24.4 | God willing will cut the snake's head, he later said. |
| 1:27.8 | They'll have no way out. |
| 1:29.4 | Either they surrender or die. There's been no surrender. |
| 1:37.0 | Today, the Battle for Mosul is the largest battle on earth. |
| 1:50.0 | Tens of thousands of soldiers, police and militiamen. Backed by Western Air Power. |
| 1:56.7 | The UN says the risk to the hundreds of thousands of civilians cut between the two sides |
| 2:01.8 | is extreme. |
| 2:03.0 | I'm Neil Riselle, and this edition of the inquiry asks, |
| 2:06.0 | how is Mosel being liberated? Part 1, The City. The City. |
| 2:27.0 | The Battle for Mosul is quite advanced. |
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