Field Dispatches & Investigative Reporting
Owen
Holdaway
60 dispatches
Media Line
April 4, 2023
Escaping Tunisia: Refugees Fleeing North Africa to Southern Europe
A story on refugees fleeing Tunisia and neighbouring Libya via boats to Southern Italy.
The Sun
November 3, 2020
Race Against Time to Reach Child Buried in Beirut Blast Rubble for a Month
Rescuers detect a heartbeat beneath the wreckage of the Beirut explosion one month after the blast.
The Sun
November 3, 2020
First Person: Covering the Beirut Explosion
A first-person account of reporting from the scene of the catastrophic Beirut port explosion.
Media Line
November 30, 2018
Syria’s Bid to Populate a War-Ravaged Country
The sectarian issues and demographic challenges facing Syria in the aftermath of its devastating civil war.
The Sun
November 30, 2018
Inside the House-by-House Hunt for ISIS Chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
On the ground in eastern Syria during the hunt for the leader of ISIS in the town of Hajin.
The Sun
November 30, 2018
How ISIS’s Most Extreme Fighters Are Dying in Their Last Major Pocket
Inside Hajin — ISIS’s last major urban stronghold in Syria — as the terror group fights to the death.
Media Line
October 4, 2018
ISIS’s Last Urban Stronghold in Syria
Reporting from Hajin — the last major urban centre still under ISIS control in Syria, near the Israeli border region.
The Sun
October 4, 2018
ISIS Sleeper Cells Still Operating in Syria After the Fall of Raqqa
Even after losing their de facto capital to US-backed coalition forces, ISIS cells continue to launch attacks under cover of darkness.
The Sun
October 4, 2018
Inside the Hunt for Jihadi John’s Victims at the Mass Graves of Raqqa
Investigating burial sites in Syria believed to hold the victims of notorious ISIS executioner Jihadi John.
The Sun
October 4, 2018
Visiting the Spot Where Jihadi John Was Killed by a US Drone Strike
A tour of the exact location in Raqqa where British ISIS figurehead Jihadi John was killed.
The Sun
October 4, 2018
Captured Western ISIS Members Beg to Return Home to European Jails
Western extremists who turned their backs on Europe are now trying to be transferred back to jails in their home countries.
The Sun
April 14, 2018
Surviving ISIS in Fallujah: A Father Who Lost Everything to a Car Bomb
The story of an Iraqi father whose wife and children were killed by an ISIS car bomb as they tried to flee Fallujah.
The Sun
April 14, 2018
Inside the Luxury Hotel ISIS Turned Into a Hellhole Jail in Syria
Reporting from a former luxury hotel in Manbij, Northern Syria, repurposed by ISIS as a prison and torture facility.
The Sun
April 14, 2018
Inside the ISIS Torture Camp Beneath Raqqa’s Football Stadium
The Raqqa football stadium that ISIS used as their headquarters and as an underground torture prison.
The Sun
April 14, 2018
Londoner Pays Tribute to the First British Woman Killed Fighting in Syria
An interview with a fellow fighter paying tribute to Anna Campbell, the first British woman to die fighting against ISIS in Syria.
The Sun
April 14, 2018
Al-Naim Square: The Heart of ISIS’s Public Executions in Raqqa
Reporting from Al-Naim Square in central Raqqa — the site where ISIS beheaded enemies and displayed severed heads on spikes.
The Sun
April 14, 2018
Wife of Foreign Jihadi Warns: The ISIS Threat to Britain is More Severe Than Ever
An interview with the wife of a foreign ISIS fighter in Ayn Issa, Syria, warning that the threat to Britain intensifies as Middle East strongholds crumble.
Media Line
April 14, 2018
On the Ground in Raqqa, Capital of ISIS’s Caliphate
Dispatches from inside Raqqa as the so-called Islamic State loses its Syrian capital.
The Sun
April 14, 2018
ISIS’ Terror Capital Raqqa Could Fall Within Days
Reporting from inside Raqqa — the ISIS capital — in the final days before its liberation by coalition forces.
The Sun
September 9, 2017
The Upcoming Battle for Hawija: ISIS’s Last Major Stronghold in Iraq
On the front lines as Iraqi forces prepare to take on the roughly 2,000 ISIS fighters dug into Hawija.
France 24
August 26, 2017
Interview: Iraqi Army Recaptures Tal-Afar’s Historic City Centre from ISIS
Live interview on France 24 English as Iraqi forces retake the centre of Tal-Afar from the so-called Islamic State.
9News
August 26, 2017
Inside Al-Nuri Mosque: Where Al-Baghdadi Declared the Caliphate
Reporting from Al-Nuri Mosque immediately after Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces recaptured the site where ISIS declared its caliphate.
9News
August 26, 2017
ISIS Suicide Bombers Posed as Iraqi Soldiers to Target Mosul’s Freed Civilians
How ISIS fighters disguised themselves as Iraqi soldiers to infiltrate and attack civilians newly liberated from their control in West Mosul.
The Sun
June 2, 2017
The Liberation of Hatra: Reclaiming an Ancient Assyrian City from ISIS
On the ground as the Popular Mobilization Forces drive ISIS out of Hatra, one of Iraq’s most historically significant ancient cities.
The Sun
June 2, 2017
The ISIS Sniper Bullet That Bounced Off an Iraqi Cameraman’s GoPro — Inches from Owen
The dramatic moment an ISIS sniper’s bullet deflected off a GoPro, filmed inches away by Owen Holdaway in West Mosul.
The Sun
June 2, 2017
ISIS Planning a Chemical Attack Near Badush, Iraq
An Iraqi medic’s warning of a potential ISIS chemical weapons attack near Badush and the ongoing killing of civilians in Northern Iraq.
The Sun
March 30, 2017
The Children of Mosul: Killed by ISIS Car Bombs, Maimed by Sniper Fire
The devastating toll of the battle for western Mosul on the city’s youngest civilians caught in the crossfire.
The Sun
March 18, 2017
A Mortar Round Lands Feet Away: Owen Under ISIS Fire in Mosul
The terrifying moment an ISIS mortar round landed just feet from Owen Holdaway during the battle to retake Mosul.
The Sun
March 18, 2017
Embedded with the Federal Police Inside West Mosul
Inside the battle for Mosul — embedded with Iraqi troops facing suicide bombers and snipers in the bloody fight to liberate the city.
The Sun
March 4, 2017
Inside the Khasfa Mass Grave: Iraq’s Largest ISIS Killing Site
A report from the Khasfa sinkhole between Hammam Al-Alil and West Mosul — Iraq’s largest known ISIS mass grave site.
The Sun
March 4, 2017
Under ISIS Sniper Fire in the Western Quarter of Mosul
Reporting from western Mosul just after Iraqi forces took the airport — under threat from ISIS snipers, armed drones, and poison gas car bombs.
The Sun
February 18, 2017
Tal-Afar: Blocking ISIS’s Escape as Their Mosul Stronghold Crumbles
Embedded with the Hashd Al-Shaabi fighting ISIS west of Mosul and cutting off retreating fighters near Tal-Afar.
The Sun
January 25, 2017
Joining an Iraqi Forces Raid Deep Inside Mosul
Embedded with the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Forces on a raid inside Mosul as they push to liberate the eastern districts.
CBC
December 5, 2016
Dohuk Zoo: A Story of Animals and Survival in Northern Iraq
A film piece on Dohuk Zoo in Northern Iraq for CBC, linked to Jane Goodall’s praise for an Edmonton-area man’s chimp rescue.
The Sun
December 5, 2016
Inside the Battle of Mosul: The First Neighbourhood Liberated from ISIS
Reporting from the Al-Karamah district — the first neighbourhood of Mosul retaken from ISIS by Iraqi special forces.
The Sun
December 5, 2016
ISIS and Chemical Weapons: The Threat Facing Troops in Mosul
Reporting on ISIS’s stockpile of chemical weapons and the threat they posed to advancing troops during the Battle of Mosul.
The Sun
December 5, 2016
ISIS’s Christian Massacre: The Liberation of Qaraqosh
Reporting from Qaraqosh — a Christian village just outside Mosul — as it is freed from ISIS and the scale of destruction becomes clear.
The Sun
October 20, 2016
The Bloody Road to Mosul
On the Khazir front line east of Mosul as the battle to retake the city begins and ISIS corpses litter the streets.
Daily Mail
July 20, 2016
“Tony Blair and George Bush Destroyed Our Country”: Life Under Saddam Revisited
Iraqis reflect on the invasion of their country and a generation of conflict — some saying life was more stable under Saddam Hussein.
Daily Mail
July 20, 2016
Four Members of One Family, Including a Four-Year-Old, Among 250 Killed in ISIS Baghdad Attack
The grief of a family torn apart by the ISIS bombing of a Baghdad shopping mall, which killed 250 people in one of the deadliest attacks in the country’s history.
The Sun
June 6, 2016
One Hundred ISIS Fighters Killed as Kurds Carry Out Massive Operation on Mosul Stronghold
Exclusive reporting from the Khazir front line in Northern Iraq as Kurdish Peshmerga forces launch a major offensive against ISIS.
Daily Mail
June 6, 2016
No, It’s Me: Five-Year-Old Afghan Claims He’s the Boy in the Messi Plastic Bag Shirt
A second Afghan boy claims to be the child photographed wearing a blue-and-white plastic bag fashioned into a Lionel Messi shirt.
Daily Mail
October 13, 2015
Dozens of ISIS Sex Slaves Have Killed Themselves, Reveals the Woman Devoted to Rescuing Them
The woman who has risked her life to rescue Yazidi girls sold into sexual slavery by ISIS reveals the scale of the abuse and the desperate choices some women have made.
Daily Mail
October 12, 2015
Yazidi Widow: ISIS Doctors Murdered My Husband in Hospital with a Lethal Injection
A Yazidi widow recounts how ISIS medics killed her wounded husband with a lethal injection — one of at least 30 similar cases.
Daily Mail
October 6, 2015
Heartbroken Yazidi Grandfather: My Three Granddaughters Drowned in the Mediterranean Fleeing ISIS
A Yazidi grandfather whose three granddaughters drowned while fleeing ISIS warns other families not to risk the deadly crossing.
Daily Mail
October 6, 2015
Exclusive: Yazidi Mother Reveals How Her Nine-Year-Old Clung to Her Husband’s Body After He Was Shot by an ISIS Sniper
A mother’s account of the moment ISIS executed her husband while her nine-year-old daughter watched — and her other daughter was taken as a sex slave.
Daily Mail
September 28, 2015
“This Is Revenge for the Yazidi Girls”: The Female Fighters Killing Ten ISIS Fighters a Day
Three female fighters on the Iraqi front line describe their motivation for fighting — and their record of killing ISIS fighters in retaliation for the abuse of Yazidi women.
Daily Mail
September 22, 2015
Aylan Kurdi’s Father Vows to Hunt Down the Trafficker to Prove He Wasn’t Driving the Boat
Abdullah Kurdi speaks out after claims he was piloting the boat on which his son Aylan drowned, vowing to find the real trafficker responsible.
Daily Mail
September 16, 2015
Inside the Only SAS and Delta Force Raid on an ISIS Leader
The inside story of the joint SAS and Delta Force raid on an ISIS senior figure — shot twice in the chest as his wife pretended to be a Yazidi sex slave to evade capture.
Daily Mail
September 9, 2015
US Hostage Kayla Mueller’s Harrowing Final Months as Al-Baghdadi’s Captive
A Yazidi sex slave who shared captivity with US aid worker Kayla Mueller reveals the abuse Mueller endured before her death.
Daily Mail
September 8, 2015
Boy, 14, Who Featured in ISIS Propaganda Reveals How He Was Taught to Kill at a Terror Camp
Exclusive interview with a 14-year-old who appeared in ISIS propaganda, describing how he was trained to hate and to behead at a so-called “Cubs of the Caliphate” camp.
Daily Mail
September 8, 2015
Yazidi Singer Forms All-Female Fighting Unit to Take Revenge on ISIS
“They rape us. We kill them.” A Yazidi singer who formed an all-female unit to fight ISIS in retaliation for the enslavement of Yazidi women and the murder of their men.
Daily Mail
August 8, 2015
Yazidi Boy, 13, Relives His Time at an ISIS Camp Where Children Were Taught to Behead
Exclusive: A 13-year-old Yazidi boy describes being held at an ISIS jihad training camp and forced to learn how to carry out beheadings.
Daily Mail
August 8, 2015
Yazidi Boy, Four, Forced to Join an ISIS Terror Camp and Given a Sword to Behead His Own Mother
A four-year-old Yazidi boy was forced to attend an ISIS camp where children were taught Sharia law and ordered to carry out acts of violence against their own families.
BBC
July 28, 2015
BBC Live Interview on Yazidi Sex Slaves
Owen Holdaway interviewed live on BBC Radio 5 Live with Peter Allen on the plight of Yazidi women held as sex slaves by ISIS.
Daily Mail
July 22, 2015
Exclusive: Yazidi Sex Slave Reveals Ordeal as British Jihadi Bride Stood By
A Yazidi sex slave recounts being raped and beaten with a pipe by a British ISIS fighter while his British wife did nothing to intervene.
Daily Mail
July 16, 2015
Exclusive: How Yazidis Survived the Slaughter of 800 Men by Playing Dead in a Mass Grave
Survivors recount how ISIS gunmen checked boys’ ages by their armpit hair before executing them — and how some lived by lying still among the dead.
Daily Mail
July 16, 2015
Two Yazidi Sex Slaves Relive the Cruelty They Suffered at the Hands of ISIS
Two women describe being tied to a bed, injected with morphine to keep them silent, and beaten so badly they could not walk for months.
Daily Mail
July 16, 2015
Traumatic Stories of the Child Refugees Fleeing for Their Lives in Iraq
Fitha, age seven, was covered in her father’s blood after ISIS raided their home and executed him on the doorstep — one of many child refugees’ stories from Iraq.