|
 Soon after Iraqi forces established a foothold in the Makhmour
area in February, about 60 km (40 miles) from the northern city, the
jihadists began restricting access to television for its 1
million-strong population, according to residents.
With limited and erratic access to internet and mobile networks,
civilians in Mosul have depended on satellite TV for their primary
source of news from the outside world since Islamic State captured
the city two years ago.
The timing of the crackdown is significant, according to local
officials and analysts. They said Islamic State's aim was to
insulate residents and its own fighters from any further news about
the advance of Iraqi forces.
This could reduce the chances of a co-ordinated uprising against
Islamic State in the city and of people who could be used as "human
shields" trying to flee, they said, as well as preventing morale
among fighters falling.
The move reflects the importance of Mosul to the militants; the
capital of Nineveh province is the largest under their control and
regarded as their de facto capital.
 Islamic State wants to prevent its fighters and civilians under its
control from learning about its setbacks, said Nineveh provincial
councilman Hassan al-Sabawi.
"They are scared of satellites because they give a realistic picture
of the situation," he said, in contrast to the group's own one-sided
media.
Mosul residents say they mostly watch Iraqi TV channels focused on
Nineveh like al-Mousalia, al-Sharqiya and Nineveh al-Ghad, as well
as pan-Arab stations Al Jazeera and Al Hadath.
Islamic State has removed satellite TV receivers from some cafes and
markets and said they would be banned from all public spaces in one
month, according to five residents contacted over the phone and
internet.
In early April the group barred the sale and maintenance of
satellite receiver boxes for household use, according to two local
merchants contacted online.
"Three members of the Hisba (morality police) entered my shop and
said, 'From now on buying and selling satellite receivers is
prohibited. They are a source of debauchery and immorality'," one
merchant said.
HUMAN SHIELDS
The militants also coerce residents into giving up their receivers.
One said he turned over his box in order to free a brother arrested
for smoking. An elderly widow said Islamic State took hers as a
condition for giving her financial aid.
Islamic State has even threatened to cut electricity generators used
by 80 percent of residents unless they surrender the receivers,
three residents said.
Omar Dulimi, a Washington-based analyst at the Stabilisation Network
who specializes in governance and media in Islamic State areas, said
the militants fear Baghdad could use satellite TV to direct
residents to safety during the Mosul battle as it did earlier this
year in Ramadi, enabling some civilians to avoid becoming human
shields.
"They knew it would be hard to ban satellite TV so they took it in
stages. They know they can't go to every house and destroy it, so
they wanted to first convince people to do it for them," he said.
"But the locals don't want to get rid of their last line of access
to the outside world so (Islamic State) has become more aggressive,"
he added, predicting there could be physical punishments and home
raids in coming months.
[to top of second column] |
Islamic State, which seized a third of Iraqi territory in 2014, has
been pushed back in the west toward the Syrian border but an army
offensive in the north has made slower progress. Iraqi authorities
aim to retake Mosul by the end of the year with boosted support from
the United States.
Increasing restrictions on television in the city have raised the
stakes in an ongoing battle waged over the radio airwaves for the
past year.
At least one private radio station - al-Ghad, which receives funding
from former Mosul governor Atheel al-Nujaifi - is broadcasting into
Islamic State territory.
SIGNAL SCRAMBLED
The militant group regularly tries to scramble al-Ghad's signal by
broadcasting over their transmission, said the station's manager,
who declined to be named for security reasons. Its operators respond
by switching to different frequencies.
"We know media is one of the strongest weapons Daesh (Islamic State)
uses, especially inside the city. It is an open war between us and
Daesh's media," said the manager of the station, which set up
transmitters a year ago close to the military frontline south of
Mosul.
Al-Ghad conducts live broadcasts that residents can call into using
Viber or WhatsApp. It also airs programs aimed at fighting
radicalism, hosting Islamic scholars who challenge Islamic State
ideology.
Militants sometimes call in and threaten the broadcasters on air,
said the manager.
"Their main weapon is to build barriers and try to have a siege and
make the people inside prisoners by disconnecting them from the
whole world," he said. "So we try to break the siege."
The Iraqi government waded into the media battle about three months
ago with a radio station broadcasting from a concrete shelter at the
Makhmour army base.
Soldiers run the radio for around eight hours a day, transmitting
religious prayers, patriotic songs, news broadcasts and pre-recorded
messages.
"We tell them 'We are close to you, we are coming to liberate you
and save you," one of the operators told Reuters during a visit last
month.
Islamic State quickly scrambled the station's signal, "so the
scrambler was bombed", he said.
But the signal currently only reaches halfway to Mosul. The operator
said transmitters would be moved closer to the city as the army
advances, but so far Iraqi forces have taken only four villages
since launching operations from Makhmour a month ago.
(Additional reporting by Isabel Coles in Erbil; Writing by Stephen
Kalin; Editing by Pravin Char)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
