Uncover CBC True Crime

Two-year-old Salmaan disappears in the chaos of the final days of the war against ISIS. 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.

Two-year-old Salmaan disappears in the chaos of the final days of the war against ISIS. 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 — many of whom are still trapped without a way back home. Is it a race against time to rescue them?

Crimes like this don't often happen on land. A 10-minute slow-motion slaughter captured by a cell phone camera shows a group of unarmed men at sea, possibly 15 of them, killed one by one by a semiautomatic weapon, after which the culprits pose for celebratory selfies. The shocking footage is then made public, and yet no government is willing to investigate, much less prosecute the murderers. This episode traces a tireless journalistic investigation of a shocking video that after 8 years, finally resulted in a 26-year conviction of the ship captain who ordered the cold-blooded killing. Looking for answers, this reporting takes us to the bizarre world of floating armories, which are part bunkhouse, part weapons depot, where maritime mercenaries wait for their next ship deployment. For broader context, the story explores the explosion of violence on the high seas, how Somali piracy is often used as a pretext for bloodletting by private security guards and the reasons that offshore crime often happens with impunity. Guest Interviews: Duncan Copeland, Trygg Mat Tracking Kevin Thompson, Private Maritime Security Guard

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