Dubious One Year Anniversary of Fall of Mosul Reached
ISHA SESAY, HOST: An unhappy anniversary. One year has passed since Iraq's strategic city of Mosul fell to ISIS. Tonight, we're live in the capital Baghdad where Iraqis fleeing the violence are flocking to. And on the front lines with Iraqi forces.</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you can hear ISIS are very close.</s>SESAY: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh takes us to a battle against ISIS in an exclusive report. Also ahead, lashed for words, Saudi Arabia's supreme court upholds a 1,000 lash sentence against blogger Raid Badawi. We'll look at what's next for him and the state of human rights in the kingdom.</s>ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World.</s>SEAY: Hello, everyone. We begin in Iraq where one year after the fall of Mosul, Iraqi forces are locked in battle with ISIS to recapture territory from the militant group. There have been conflicting reports over who controls Baiji, a town whose oil refinery has been a frequent battleground. The United States believes only half the town is in Iraqi hands while Iraqi officials tell CNN government forces have retaken most of the town's refinery. It comes as the country marks one year since ISIS took control of Mosul, Iraqs' second largest city, its fall last year was a blow to the central government, which is struggling to contain a sectarian divide. Well, Ben Wedeman is in Baghdad with the very latest and joins us now. Ben, one year on and Mosul is still in the hands of ISIS. Where do things stand with a counter offensive to retake Iraq's second largest city?</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're still in its very early stages, preparations for retaking Mosul. Now earlier this year, we did hear an American official talking about a late spring offensive to retake the city, but of course now we are in June and there's no sign of any imminent action. Now, the Iraqi government has assigned a general for this particular task. They're talking about moving on the city, but really their hands are already so full. First of all, now they're trying to retake Ramadi, which fell to ISIS on the 17th of May. As you mentioned, Iraqi officials say at this point Baiji, they control almost all of the city, it's just the northern suburb of Mohundasine (ph) where they say they're encountering some resistance. But their progress, as is so often the case, is being slowed down by booby traps and snipers and other things left behind by ISIS. But, you have to keep in mind that they need to clear Baiji. They need to sort of stabilize the situation in the area south of Mosul before they can even seriously consider any move on the city itself. And as, of course, Iraqis wait for that offensive to happen, more than a million people have fled Mosul as it is. Today, we spoke to some refugees here in Baghdad from Iraq's second largest city and they are extremely pessimistic. These are Christian refugees living in a school that's now become a refugee camp. They say that they've almost given up hope that they can return in the near future, some of them have spent months in refugee camps, in tents, in the northern part of the country before coming to Baghdad. One man told me simply the chances that he's going to return home at this point are one in a million -- Isha.</s>SESAY: And Ben, these are the lucky ones that have managed to flee Mosul. One year on, what are we hearing about the conditions inside the city?</s>WEDEMAN: Well, what we understand is that ISIS with now a year in Mosul has really been able to take control of the city. They try to make it function. ISIS oftentimes puts out propaganda videos and photographs of restaurants and public parks trying to show that life is normal, but all accounts coming out of Mosul would indicate it's quite to the contrary, that ISIS has absolutely no tolerance for any form of dissent whatsoever. The economy apparently is in shambles at the moment, that many people, as I mentioned before, have left because life is simply unbearable, particularly for minorities -- Shias, Christians, Yazidis, Kurds who are bearing the brunt of much of ISIS's ethnic cleansing campaign, so to speak, in that part of the country. So, the situation in Mosul extremely difficult. And it's only going to get worse the longer that group is able to maintain its control of the city.</s>SESAY: CNN international correspondent Ben Wedema joining us there from Baghdad. Ben, always appreciated. Thank you. Now, Iraqi forces have been gathering near Ramadi preparing, we're told, to retake the city from ISIS. The Habbaniyah military base is playing a key role in the assault as a staging ground for those troops. CNN is the first western television network granted access to the base since the fall of Ramadi last month. Iraqi military officials insist they are holding back the militants, but complain bitterly at what they say is a lack of coalition air support. Nick Paton Walsh reports from the front lines.</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Along edgy road, leads to the Iraqi base at Habbaniyah, the closest the military has taken western television towards Ramadi since it fell to ISIS. Huge, sprawling, it's meant to be where soldiers and militias, both Sunni and Shia, are amassing to retake Ramadi from ISIS. But we're told they're mostly deployed outside. And here, it is the Iraqi army along the northern edge of their base in a vicious front line with ISIS along the river. ISIS have blocked a dam upstream to lower the tides and help them attack. Well, it is minute by minute here. The situation can change, and that riverbed very much the front line. They've been using water from the lake to keep its levels high, but still as you can hear, ISIS are very close. They see and watch ISIS daily, but say they are overlooked by coalition airstrikes. "They're supposed to give us some support now from war planes," he says. "We're in control of the ground. What we need is air support." Here, caught between the ISIS towns of Ramadi and Fallujah. They face 1,000 ISIS they think. But here, he says, he sees only a few with long beards and a flag here. But soon, ISIS fire back. This is what happens when you poke that snake. They lead us out. This, the Iraqi army stronghold, where they speak of readiness and glory to come, yet seem busied by an enemy far too close. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Habbaniyah, Iraq.</s>SESAY: Well, ISIS militants are fighting to expand their reach across the Middle East and are now claiming significant new gains in Libya. They say they've taken over a power plant west of Sirte, releasing these pictures to try to prove it. ISIS also posted a statement on social media claiming their fighters now control the entire city as well. ISIS seized most of Sirte earlier this year. It's also claimed responsibility for attacks on hotels and embassies in Tripoli. Well, the chaos in Libya is fueling a spike in migrant journeys across the Mediterranean, allowing human traffickers to operate virtually at will. We're now learning the true extent of the crisis at sea. The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have made the crossing to Europe this year alone, risking everything for the chance at a better life. Far too often, though, the journey ends in tragedy. The UN says nearly 1,800 migrants died this year at sea. The vast majority of survivors are coming ashore in Italy and Greece. Our own Isa Soares went on patrol with the Greek coast guard to show us their search and rescue efforts.</s>ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Helena coast guard have been patrolling the seas pretty much all night. The weather is not so good today, but we have come nevertheless across the dinghy. These five men arriving, rowing, as you can see paddling their way to Greece, the Hellenic authorities now -- I'm going to move slightly back. So they can actually move with them, trying to bring them on shore, to safety. The distance between Turkey and Greece is something like 6 kilometers. So for many, this is indeed a fast route. And what we have seen in terms of the people coming here, seems to be a lot more Syrians than before. They used to go to Italy via the Mediterranean, they're now coming here because it is so much quicker. Temperatures, as you can see, are not great. It's somewhat cloudy. The waters are somewhat choppy, too, but that's not stopping boatload after boatload of migrants from arriving here. The coast guards work tirelessly to make sure their number one priority is to have to make sure that they are safe. As you can see, it is very tough to bring them on board to safety trying to keep them here. But they have a phenomenal track record. And they are proud of it. They're now boarding the boat with very few belongings they had brought with them. We don't know the nationalities. We have asked them. We are not getting any answers. Clearly, very shocked. We have seen majority from Syria, some 70 percent, but also many from Afghanistan and Iraq. Many telling us this is just the tip of the iceberg. Isa Soares, CNN, near Kos in Greece.</s>SESAY: Still to come tonight, Saudi court upholds a lengthy prison term and public lashing for a blogger. We'll have the details in about 25 minutes. But first, a year after the fall of a major city to ISIS, Iraq still struggles against an insurgent enemy. We look at the U.S. search for a strategy and how it's provoking political controversy.