According to Bashar, sometimes the broadcasts give instructions to the area’s residents on how to protect themselves by, for instance, keeping away from buildings used by IS or “informing them about safe corridors to get away from IS-controlled areas."
Other times, the messages are aimed at demonizing IS fighters, and for that anything goes including calling IS militants “infidels.” Patriotic songs aimed at raising the morale of the residents in the area are aired regularly, too.
“We have made a good impact and played a big role in raising awareness among citizens in the Ninevah countryside,” Bashar said.
In reality, however, it is difficult to gauge the radio station’s success given that its audience is still largely living under IS control; using a radio device is a punishable criminal offense in IS areas in southern Ninevah.
Al-Monitor talked to several people who had been displaced recently from Ninevah’s southern countryside, which is within reach of the radio station’s waves. Most of them said they had not listened to the radio broadcasts.
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