The Battle for Northern Iraq - With Yalda Hakim Our World

from northern Iraq on how the rise of IS has pushed Iraq to the brink

of becoming a failed state. The programme contains material which

some viewers may find disturbing. Islamic State fighters are on the

march in northern Iraq. They have already taken over large swathes of

this country. This brutal and barbaric militant group are

threatening to wipe out the ancient order in Iraq.

The quest for a caliphate is changing the face of this region and

the fate of its people. I am here to understand how the rise

of IS has pushed Iraq to the brink of becoming a failed state.

These Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers have just returned from the front

line in northern Iraq. They have been fighting an increasingly bitter

battle against a very sophisticated, well`equipped and ruthless enemy who

are killing large numbers of civilians and driving hundreds of

thousands from their homes. The Islamic State fighters' message is

clear, converted their brand of hardline fanatical Islam or die.

Those who can have fled in the face of the IS Advent, mainly to Kurdish

Iraq Thomas eating century and protection from Iraq's Kurdish

military forces known as the Peshmerga `` advance. This is the

largest hospital in dough hook to have seen a number of Peshmerga

soldiers being treated `` Dohuk. This is where they brought victims

from a recent massacre. This man was shot five times during the massacre

of non` Muslims by IS militant in the village near Sinjar. 80 men of

the UCD sect were rounded up and shot dead. `` Yazidi. Women and

children were abducted. When they were surrounding you in

Described the massacre to me. `` What were they telling you?

Described the massacre to me. `` describe.

Islamic State has emerged as the most powerful and blood thirsty

jihadist group in the world, taking over large swathes of Syria and

Iraq. Disowned by Al Qaeda for being too extreme, IS highly fanatical and

sectarian, Muslims, Christians, Yazidis and

other minorities. While its size is unclear, it is believed to include

thousands of fighters, not just military we efficient but also

running an effective propaganda campaign on social

aim, the creation of an Islamic Empire or caliphate across the

Middle East. The beheading of American journalist James Foley who

was held hostage by IS for two years shocked the international community.

They have threatened to kill another hostage in clear provocation to the

US. It appears to have worked, with the US President and

statements yet on America's intention to take on IS and win.

They are beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a

sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess, they are

tremendously well funded, this is beyond anything that we have seen.

Of the 1.2 million Iraqis displaced this year, 200,000 have arrived here

in Dohuk. As they were driven from their villages, many thousand sought

century on Mount Sinjar. Trapped on the mountain for days, the UN warned

of a major humanitarian crisis. Hasty preparations were made for a

massive rescue attempt. Many were airlifted off the mountain. Others

made their own way down with their families in the dead of night. This

area here has traditionally been home to the Yazidi community but now

thousands have flocked here, fleeing IS militants. The UN has put up some

tense. We are headed to a school to meet some families. Amongst the many

people I met was this man, he escaped from Mount Sinjar and told

me his story `` tents. What was going through your mind

while you were on that Mt? Did you think that you would survive? ``

mountain. Tell me, how many days were you on

that mountain and 20 due take the decision to take your family and

come down the mountain? `` and when did you make the decision.

Refugees are spilling out into every corner of Dohuk.

In an abandoned building, they remember one of their dead.

19`year`old Darwish was killed at a checkpoint as their family fled

there home near Mount Sinjar. When they came under attack, the family

was separated. And your sister is still missing?

The family have searched along the Syrian border and the surrounding

villages but they fear she has been kidnapped by it Islamic State

militants. Her father's family have lived in northern Iraq for

generations. They now face the prospect of never being able to

return. 30 minutes away, they took me to

meet their sister`in`law injured in the firefight. Showed me her

wounds. She is still waiting for treatment.

The bullets haven't been removed. It's not just the Yazidis who have

been persecuted by the IS onslaught. The Christians, another

minority group who have lived in Iraq for thousands of years, are

also now internally displaced people driven from their homes. For local

volunteers at working with the flood of refugees into this area of

Dohuk, the challenge is enormous. It has become step`by`step a terrorist

situation. For 16 days we have worked hard here, 20 hours, there is

still no UN or UN agency or other big agencies to take over. We are

around 13,000 people in this small town. We received more than 25,000

persons and all of those people need really urgent care, healthcare and

also food. We heard from the health confessional and other agency that

this would happen very soon. And there is anger here. The Yazidis

in particular feel abandoned and betrayed. Much of their anger is

directed towards Iraq's military, the Peshmerga. They believed the

Peshmerga will protect them and defend them. And bigger until the

end of their life. But unfortunately now they don't believe how it has

happened, and also people have been kidnapped because the Peshmerga left

from the area. But for the 200,000 strong Peshmerga, it is a huge

challenge. Despite being well trained and highly motivated, they

say they don't have enough modern weaponry to take on a militia group

boasting hi`tech arms. In the last four weeks, the brigadier and his

soldiers have retaken three villages from Islamic State fighters. But it

is a constant struggle holding them back. This is the frontline. We

can't go beyond point. IS militants are just two kilometres away. These

Kurdish forces are essentially the only ones fighting IS. But the

question is, what are they fighting for? No longer a united Iraq. Their

fight is for their own state, an independent Kurdistan.

Are you satisfied that your men will be able to defend his area?

He rejects accusations the Peshmerga did little to protect the Yazidis in

the region. While the conflict intensifies, the

international community is wrestling with how to respond. America has

been involved in the battle from the air. Since the 8th of August, the US

has carried out more than 90 airstrikes on IS positions, to

support Iraqi and Kurdish troops, tackling the insurgents. The reality

is, as the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army are fighting a ruthless enemy

welcomed death as a form of `` both the.

martyrdom. One Iraqi soldier told me how they had advanced against IS

around town north`west of Mosul, and came under attack from sniper fire

and mortars. For the medical staff at Dohuk's

biggest hospital, having to deal with an influx of refugees as well

as the injured soldiers and the city's sick, means they are

overstretched. For this man, the Yazidi man who

miraculously survived the IS massacre in his village, the future

is uncertain. After he escaped from the militants, he told me he walked

for five hours to find safety. Do you know what happened to your

wife and your children? What will you do now?

As I travelled around the region, I heard again and again about the

terrible experiences people had suffered. Many villagers, like this

one, are now you're really quiet, abandoned. `` villages. Even if they

could, people don't want to return. Their homes have become the front

line in the war against IS. So many Iraqis told me the country holds no

future for them. They have been let down by the state, and they no

longer believe in it. They want out, and they don't think the country

will survive. This man's mother and sister were kidnapped as they

attempted to flee up to Mt Sinjar. I hear something you may be don't

hear. They selling my mother. They selling my sister. $600, no life in

Iraq, we don't like. What is at stake now is not just the future of

Iraq, but the whole region. Iraq is on the brink of becoming a failed

state. It ever deepening social violence is undermining the nation,

and in the process destroying hundreds of thousands of lives.

Hello there. Low pressure has been keeping things pretty