Show Notes
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.
More from Bloodlines
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. .
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?
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?
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?
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.