0:00:00 > 0:00:00brightest. We will be measuring our crane and -- craniums. Next on
0:00:00 > 0:00:00brightest. We will be measuring our crane and -- craniums. Next on BBC
0:00:00 > 0:00:00crane and -- craniums. Next on BBC News,
0:00:00 > 0:00:03crane and -- craniums. Next on BBC News, Reporters.
0:00:15 > 0:00:16Welcome to Reporters.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18I'm Philippa Thomas.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21From here in the BBC Newsroom, we send out correspondents to bring
0:00:21 > 0:00:23you the best stories from across the globe.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25In this week s programme...
0:00:25 > 0:00:30They killed the children, and the women.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Life under siege in Aleppo.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36As a fragile Syrian ceasefire takes hold, Jeremy Bowen reports
0:00:36 > 0:00:39from inside the shattered remains of the city.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41These buildings were built strongly.
0:00:41 > 0:00:42A lot can be restored.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45You can't bring back all those who died and the country that used
0:00:45 > 0:00:49to be here.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52The scorched earth of so-called Islamic state -
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Orla Guerin joins Iraqi forces on the road to Mosul,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59the last bastion of IS in Iraq.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02They were driven out of this town in just two days,
0:01:02 > 0:01:08but the decisive battle is yet to come - the offensive for Mosul.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14After five years of bloody conflict that's cost more than 300,000 lives
0:01:14 > 0:01:19and seen millions flee their homes, Syria edged a little further
0:01:19 > 0:01:23towards a tentative peace as a fragile ceasefire began this week.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26The seven-day truce, brokered by the United States
0:01:26 > 0:01:29and Russia, began on Monday.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32It's aimed at stopping the fighting between Syrian government forces
0:01:32 > 0:01:34and a wide range of opposition groups.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37One of the worst-hit areas is the city of Aleppo,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41split between the rebel-controlled east and government-held west.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Jeremy Bowen entered Aleppo just before the truce began and found
0:01:45 > 0:01:49the shattered remains of what was once a thriving
0:01:49 > 0:01:52and beautiful city.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55No-one is taking down the sandbags.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58The war spread to Aleppo in 2012.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01In a divided, destroyed city, after thousands of deaths,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05with hundreds of thousands of lost homes, no wonder
0:02:05 > 0:02:10they are still sceptical a few hours into a ceasefire.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14This is the west side of Aleppo, controlled by the government.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Many more have died on the east side, but the pain of death
0:02:17 > 0:02:20crosses the battle lines.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Not much else unites a country that the war has left in fragments.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30A soldier showed me a shell improvised by rebels.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35He said they pack empty cooking gas bottles with explosives,
0:02:35 > 0:02:41weld on a tail and fire them from home-made mortars.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43This is C4?
0:02:43 > 0:02:49So, he is saying that this is C4, which is an explosive.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54LOUD EXPLOSION.
0:02:54 > 0:02:55You hear a lot of that?
0:02:55 > 0:02:56Many, many, many.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00By hundreds, by thousand.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Hundreds, thousands of explosions?
0:03:04 > 0:03:09Very much.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12It was a small violation of the ceasefire, but this man
0:03:12 > 0:03:16is haunted by years of shelling and by his grandchildren's fears.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18He calls rebels terrorists.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23He lost an eye and his son a leg to a gas bomb attack.
0:03:23 > 0:03:24They murder.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26This is murder.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30They kill us.
0:03:30 > 0:03:37They killed the children, and the women.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40We don't know what happened to Syria.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Syria...
0:03:45 > 0:03:46One day the war will end.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Peace will start with a ceasefire.
0:03:50 > 0:03:57This Maronite priest, a Christian, hopes that day has come.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Rebels destroyed his church.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Many Syrian Christians support the regime.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08He believes only negotiation will end the war.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11He backs the ceasefire and believes pouring more weapons into
0:04:11 > 0:04:18the Middle East leads to disaster.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20TRANSLATION: From this church, I call on all
0:04:20 > 0:04:23the countries of the world to stop the arms trade.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27The money spent on weapons could feed many people and build
0:04:27 > 0:04:30a civilisation of peace.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32On the east side of Aleppo, which is controlled by rebels,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34the cemeteries are overflowing.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37They have faced much greater firepower than the west.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41Air strikes, including barrel bombs, and more recently the power
0:04:41 > 0:04:44of the Russian air force.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47The ceasefire coincides with Eid al-Adha,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50one of the biggest Muslim holidays of the year and, despite widespread
0:04:50 > 0:04:52doubts that the ceasefire
0:04:52 > 0:04:55would last, parents here, like those near the frontline
0:04:55 > 0:05:00in the west, took a chance.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03TRANSLATION: I took my kids to the swings today.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06It was a risk because I don't believe in the ceasefire at all.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08I don't trust the regime.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10It is always breaking promises.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15But I said the kids should have fun.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19I could not cross into east Aleppo, but this was close to the frontline
0:05:19 > 0:05:23in the old city - a tangle of medieval alleys that used to be
0:05:23 > 0:05:27the greatest souk in the Levant.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Aleppo's old city was an extraordinary human creation,
0:05:30 > 0:05:38now it is empty and dead.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41The destruction here is tragic, but it doesn't match the loss
0:05:41 > 0:05:45of perhaps 400,000 human lives.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Now, let's assume the ceasefire lasts.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51First of all for a week, then perhaps for a bit longer.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55The question is what can be built upon it.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Could there be a political process that inches this country
0:05:58 > 0:06:04away from war and a tiny bit towards peace?
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Or will it be like other attempts at ceasefires,
0:06:06 > 0:06:13just a time when fighting men can rest, rearm, regroup and get
0:06:13 > 0:06:17ready for the next round?
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Jeremy Bowen, BBC News, Aleppo.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23From the war in Syria to the conflict in Iraq now,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27where the so-called Islamic State is also still proving a major
0:06:27 > 0:06:29threat to the authorities.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Two years ago, IS overran Mosul, Iraq's second largest city,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36and went on to take control of a third of Iraq.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40Since then, IS has lost much of the territory it once held
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and Iraq's Prime Minister has pledged to retake Mosul
0:06:43 > 0:06:46by the end of the year.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49The Iraqi army's most recent victory was taking back the town
0:06:49 > 0:06:52of Qayarra, some 60 kilometres to the south of Mosul.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57From there, Orla Guerin sent this report.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05A parting gift from the so-called Islamic state.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Oil wells set ablaze, covering their retreat
0:07:09 > 0:07:14from the town of Qayarra.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Here, the landscape of liberation.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22Defeating IS will mean a lot more scorched earth.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26By the roadside, remnants of their rule.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32The Iraqi troops who drove them from here are still jittery.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35Our journey was suddenly halted when a home-made bomb
0:07:35 > 0:07:41was found up ahead.
0:07:41 > 0:07:48A controlled explosion...this time.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Clearing this strategic town is a key victory
0:07:50 > 0:07:54in the push towards Mosul.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Troops are closing in step by step, with help from US
0:07:57 > 0:08:01and British bombing raids.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04And what happened under the dark reign of IS
0:08:04 > 0:08:06is now being uncovered.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10We were given a tour of one of their jails.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12A tiny space the prisoners were kept in.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16Locals said up to four men could be crammed into a cell,
0:08:16 > 0:08:20forced to stand.
0:08:20 > 0:08:26They were even handcuffed to the doors.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30Here, some of their names and the crimes -
0:08:30 > 0:08:33smuggling, and trying to escape.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37We don't know their fate.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40For this tribal commander, the fight here is very personal
0:08:40 > 0:08:42and it is not over yet.
0:08:42 > 0:08:50His village, in the distance, still under IS control.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53TRANSLATION: They blew up my house.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55I can see it with binoculars.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57My mother is there.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59I have not seen her for more than two years.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01It is very painful.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04My brothers are also there, in front of me, and I can't
0:09:04 > 0:09:09reach them, but we hope to retake the village soon.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Then we get access to a hidden layer built by the extremists
0:09:12 > 0:09:17during their two years in residence.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Well, here, deep in the hillside, Islamic State carved out a network
0:09:20 > 0:09:24of tunnels and rooms.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27This was a place where they could hide, where they could take cover
0:09:27 > 0:09:29from coalition air strikes.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32It is pretty basic, but we have found some food supplies
0:09:32 > 0:09:35that they left behind in their hurry to escape.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38And they did have some creature comforts.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42There was a electricity connected here.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Now, they were driven out of this town in just two days,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48but the decisive battle is yet to come, the offensive for Mosul.
0:09:48 > 0:09:55Many have fled even before it begins.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01Makeshift camps in Kurdish territory are already overflowing.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Here they are free of IS, but still prisoners of memory.
0:10:03 > 0:10:12These young boys saw men hanged.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16And beheaded.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18TRANSLATION: He was escaping so they cut his head off,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21then they threw him into the water.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24They brought another five people, also dead.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Locals took the bodies and buried them.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31In the coming weeks and months, the desperation here may grow,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34along with the numbers.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36The United Nations is warning that up to 1 million people
0:10:36 > 0:10:39could flee Mosul.
0:10:39 > 0:10:45A fresh catastrophe in this broken country.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48That's all from Reporters for this week.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52From me, Philippa Thomas, goodbye for now.