'Deliberate desecration' inside liberated IS town of Bartella near Mosul
Militants rigged bunkers with explosives in Bartella and they used "deadly accuracy" to try to halt advancing Iraqi forces.
Monday 24 October 2016 03:51, UK
Sky News has filmed the damage inside a Christian town near the key Islamic State-held city of Mosul after it was liberated by Iraqi forces.
Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley entered Bartella, six miles east of Mosul, and saw the militants' trail of "deliberate desecration" of holy sites.
The Orthodox church was burnt and smashed up and all the graves broken open, with any valuables stolen.
It is one graphic example of how the terror group have been destroying ancient and religious sites they see as sinful and against their strict, violent interpretation of Islam.
The correspondent said: "They have blown up, particularly ancient buildings, in this province. Archaeological gems have been turned to rubbish and dust."
Sky News was the first TV crew to film the damage. Kiley saw how IS was able to hold onto the town by building a tunnel complex and bunkers.
Some of the bunkers had wires leading to them in order to trigger improvised explosive devices against any resistance.
Kiley said: "They have tunnels almost completely impervious to airstrike - unless they are using the most advanced bunker-busters."
Bartella is one of around 50 towns that have been won back from Islamic State since the massive operation to regain Mosul began on 17 October.
The town was liberated on Thursday but Iraqi forces are still coming under fire from surrounding areas.
Homes in Bartella have been reduced to rubble, IS grafitti is scrawled on walls and the militants appear to have renamed some streets and neighbourhoods after some of their fighters.
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![Smoke rises at Islamic State militants' positions in the town of Nawaran, near Mosul]()
Image: Smoke rises near IS positions in Nawaran, close to Mosul. Around 50 villages have been liberated since the battle for Mosul began a week ago -
![Peshmerga forces prepare to launch a mortar against Islamic State militants in the town of Naweran near Mosul]()
Image: Kurdish Peshmerga forces are among the tens of thousands of troops battling IS fighters in the mission to retake Iraq's second-biggest city -
![Shia fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces arrive in an area south of Mosul]()
Image: Shia fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces are also involved in the fight to retake control of Mosul from the violent jihadist group -
![Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces arrive in an area south of Mosul]()
Image: The fighters are pushing towards Mosul from the south, as the Iraqi PM praises the offensive's progress -
![Peshmerga forces fire a mortar towards Islamic state militants' positions in the town of Naweran near Mosul]()
Image: Peshmerga forces fire a mortar towards Islamic State militants in the village of Nawaran near Mosul, which has been held by IS since June 2014 -
![A Kurdish peshmerga fighter aims to fire during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in the town of Naweran, near Mosul]()
Image: A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter during an attack on Islamic State militants in Nawaran -
![A member of Iraqi forces operates an unmanned drone to make it fly over Islamic State position outside the town of Safayah near Mosul]()
Image: Iraqi soldiers prepare an unmanned drone to fly over Islamic State territory outside the town of Safayah, near Mosul -
![Liberating troops with workers at a Christian church in Bartella, near Mosul, which has been retaken from Islamic State. Pic: A Demand For Action]()
Image: The bells at a Christian church rang for the first time in many months after Bartella, near Mosul, was liberated. Pic: A Demand For Action -
![People clean up a Christian church in Bartella, near Mosul, which has been retaken from Islamic State. Pic: A Demand For Action]()
Image: Clergy were left to clean up the church after the Islamic State fighters were driven out. Pic: A Demand For Action -
![Members of Iraqi forces eat their lunch in front of Islamic States positions at the town of Safayah near Mosul]()
Image: Iraqi troops eat their lunch in front of Islamic State's positions at the town of Safayah near Mosul -
![A displaced Iraqi girl looks on upon arriving to a refugee camp on October 22, 2016 in the town of Qayyarah, south of Mosul, as an operation to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group takes place]()
Image: A refugee camp in Qayyarah, south of Mosul. Aid agencies are preparing to look after thousands of civilians who are expected to flee the city -
![An Iraqi soldier tries to calm displaced people who are complaining about the lack of food supplies outside a processing centre as smoke from burning oil refinery blanketed Qayyara, south of Mosul]()
Image: There are already problems. Here an Iraqi soldier tries to calm refugees complaining about the lack of food outside a processing centre -
![TOPSHOT - An Iraqi forces member helps a displaced man push a car as they arrive at refugee camp on October 22, 2016 in the town of Qayyarah, south of Mosul, as an operation to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group takes place. Iraqi security forces battled for a second day with Islamic State group gunmen who infiltrated Kirkuk in a brazen raid that rattled Iraq as it ramped up an offensive to retake Mosul]()
Image: There are warnings of a humanitarian crisis when fighting reaches Mosul. Refugees like this family, pictured arriving at a camp, face an uncertain future
The terror group was in control of the town for more than two years before being driven out.
Kiley said: "Improvised engineering that's making Islamic State so difficult to deal with in this battle ... people pop up out of these holes and attack from the rear."
Armoured vehicles being used by the army show scars from the fighting, said the Sky correspondent.
The bullet-resistant glass is shattered on some, after IS gunmen with "deadly accuracy" tried to halt their progress by firing "round after round after round" at the tiny windows.
"This is why these fighters are so dangerous," said Kiley. "They're very very good shots."
Tens of thousands of troops made up of the Iraqi army, the Kurdish Peshmerga and Shia and Sunni militia are involved in the fight.
The US-led coalition is helping provide air support.
Progress has been hampered somewhat by a toxic cloud from a fire started by IS fighters at a sulphur plant south of Mosul.
It has killed at least two civilians and forced American personnel at Qayyarah airbase to wear protective masks.
The operation is also meeting deadly resistance from dozens of suicide car bombs and roadside booby traps.
US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter arrived in Iraq on Sunday and praised his troops for "the way their efforts are completely coordinated with the Iraqi security forces".
He said the fight for Mosul was "on track and on schedule".
According to residents in the city - Iraq's second biggest - living conditions are deteriorating daily, with food shortages and IS paranoia about informants mounting.
The interior minister of the Kurdish regional government said there were reports of people in Mosul rising up against IS and carrying out nighttime attacks.
The United Nations has said the biggest humanitarian relief operation in the world could be needed once it has been liberated, with hundreds of thousands potentially homeless.