Security concerns rise as troops make way to Mosul

World Today

Iraqi forces are closing in — on a key mosque…in the fight to retake Mosul. During ISIL’s three-year-rule of the city, beatings, dismemberment, and executions were common for anyone who broke ISIL’s laws.

But investigators are finding it difficult to document the plight of the dead and missing, because of security concerns.

CGTN’s Tony Cheng reports.

A barren and desolate land named Khasfa. ISIL staged a fierce defense here before retreating into the city.

So fierce that fires still burn a month after they fled.

Iraqi soldiers show where they burnt pits of oil and the thick smoke hiding their positions from airstrikes.

But they may have been hiding something else too, possibly ISIL’s largest execution site.

There is a large sinkhole, a natural depression that goes deep down into the ground. It was being used as an execution ground by ISIL. They brought civilians here from Mosul who disobeyed their rules but no one knows exactly how many people are inside because you can’t go any further than this. The whole area is very heavily mined.

Local residents heard it all. But the hills will keep their secret for now.

Inside Eastern Mosul, some sort of normality has returned since the Iraqi army took control. Shortages are a problem, but many people have returned, despite the bitter fighting in the west.