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Iraqi strike silences ISIL radio station in Mosul

By Khalid al-Taie

Al-Bayan radio station in western Mosul, which the 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' used to broadcast its propaganda, was taken offline by an Iraqi airstrike on February 25th. [File]

Al-Bayan radio station in western Mosul, which the 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' used to broadcast its propaganda, was taken offline by an Iraqi airstrike on February 25th. [File]

Al-Bayan Radio, a key media outlet of the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) in western Mosul, was taken offline last month by an Iraqi airstrike.

The radio station, which broadcast round-the-clock programmes from a former government building in Mosul's al-Rafidayn neighbourhood, went offline on February 25th.

The Iraqi Air Force targeted the station to "silence the largest and most significant ISIL media outlet from which it spouts its lies", Ninawa operations command spokesman Brig. Gen. Firas Bashar Sabri told Diyaruna.

The strike on the radio station was part of a large scale military operation launched February 19th to take back western Mosul, he said.

Iraqi forces patrol areas that they retook from 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' fighters in western Mosul as they advance in the city on March 9th. [Aris Messinis/AFP]

Iraqi forces patrol areas that they retook from 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' fighters in western Mosul as they advance in the city on March 9th. [Aris Messinis/AFP]

ISIL began broadcasting on the FM frequency at the start of 2015 after it seized transistors and broadcasting equipment, Sabri said.

The station broadcast to all of Mosul and was the group’s main media platform, with its leadership using it to deliver speeches, statements and edicts to the local population.

"ISIL’s radio messages were all fabrications and lies," Sabri said. "They used to promote false victories and erroneously announce that they had retaken areas inside Mosul after being expelled, in an attempt to raise their fighters’ morale and deceive the local residents."

Iraqi forces have "silenced this station forever", he said, adding that they are "making good progress" in military operations to liberate the rest of Mosul.

Misleading messages

After ISIL overran Mosul, the group took over radio and TV stations in the city, said journalist and Ninawa Media Institute vice president Sufian al-Mashadani.

"They managed to launch their own station, al-Bayan, using stolen transistors taken from these stations," he told Diyaruna.

The station was the group’s sole media outlet, al-Mashadani said.

"The station focused on broadcasting anasheed (religious chants) and audio recordings of ISIL leaders and preachers," he said, as well as delivering heavily burnished daily reports detailing the progress of its battles and operations.

"All its programmes focused on ideological propaganda for the group and its extremist ideology, as well as polishing its image and portraying a false facade that is contradictory to what is happening on the battlefield," he said.

During ISIL's failed attack on Kirkuk last October 21st, the radio station broadcast anasheed and statements by the leadership of the group in which they alleged that the city was under their control.

Mosul residents quickly discovered that this was a lie, that the group had suffered heavy losses, and that the attack was nothing more than a desperate move to obscure the victories scored by Iraqi forces, al-Mashadani said.

Influence on the wane

ISIL used the radio station to broadcast propaganda and instill fear in the hearts of residents, said Mosul activist and reporter Maher al-Obaidi, who is the head of the network of civil society organisations in Ninawa.

"Terrorists would broadcast flagrant threats to the people that it would brutally kill them if they crossed the group or tried to flee the city or even if they were to own a satellite receiver, for example," he told Diyaruna.

As part of the group’s psychological warfare, the station distorted reality, terrorised people and attempted to undermine the Iraqi army, he said.

"The group’s misleading broadcast propaganda has collapsed after the liberating soldiers treated locals humanely," al-Obaidi said.

"ISIL has now lost one of its most effective tools for psychological and media impact," he added. "The group no longer can deceive people and its influence has started to wane in western Mosul."

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