Bloodlines

8 Episodes

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Introducing Bloodlines

2023-10-1604:181

From BBC Sounds, BBC Asian Network and CBC. Syria. 2018. ISIS is on the brink of defeat. Two-year-old Salmaan disappears amid the bombardment. In London, his grandfather desperately searches for answers. After the war against the Islamic State was won, what became of the children of its fighters? There are thousands of kids like Salmaan, with roots in Canada, the U.K., the U.S. and beyond — They were taken to IS or born there. Now they are trapped there without a way back home. Investigative reporter Poonam Taneja has covered the terror group for a decade and now embarks on a dangerous journey to find out what happened to Salmaan and all the kids like him, left behind in the Syrian desert. And she speaks to the grandparents trying to get them home. Bloodlines will be released weekly, beginning Oct. 23, 2023.

1. The Lost Boy

2023-10-2330:23

Two-year-old Salmaan disappears in the chaos of the final days of the war against Islamic State (IS) group. In London, Salmaan’s grandfather, Ash, has been desperate for answers ever since. Poonam travels to Syria to find out what happened to Salmaan and the thousands of children like him. From BBC Sounds, BBC Asian Network and CBC, Bloodlines will be released weekly beginning October 23, 2023.

2. Race Against Time

2023-10-2332:55

Bombs drop as Poonam enters Syria, blocking access to the areas she needs to get to. If things get worse, the troops guarding IS prisons say they will be forced to abandon their positions. The team makes contact with Salmaan’s Canadian family, learning what they believe happened to him and his mother. Poonam and her team see up close the dangers still facing children here.

3. Breakthrough

2023-10-3042:221

Poonam finally gets into the prison camp where the women and children of suspected IS fighters are being held. There, she meets a Canadian woman who has information about baby Salmaan. But it’s clear she isn’t telling Poonam everything.

4. DA's Secret

2023-11-0649:441

Poonam returns to DA, now knowing her true identity. What was IS like through her eyes? What can she tell Poonam about some of the terror group’s most heinous crimes?

5. The Crater

2023-11-1333:451

Poonam makes the perilous journey to the last known location of baby Salmaan, a guesthouse near where IS made its last stand. But IS sleeper cells still lurk in the desert and Poonam only has one hour on the ground – can she find what she needs in time?

6. The Forgotten Children

2023-11-2031:571

Salmaan was one of thousands of children born into or brought to live under IS. They were intended to be the group’s next generation of fighters and mothers. Four years after the fall of IS, they’re stranded in prison camps and detention centres. Is it a race against time to rescue them?

7. No Tears Left

2023-11-2734:41

Poonam makes the long journey home from Syria. She arranges to meet Ash. They sit down on the same bench and she talks to him about what she’s found. Meanwhile, DA has been repatriated to Canada with her children. We follow her story as she goes through the justice system. Poonam also catches up with Charleen and her attempts to get her daughter, Nicole and her grandchildren out of the camps. .

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