given up the fight. undeterred, some of its army of global jihadists survived, and have taken sanctuary in the most remote corners of the globe. so where has the islamic state group gone after the caliphate? in this bbc news exclusive quentin sommerville followed the trail of one attack, planned and executed despite the group's apparent collapse. this programme contains images which some viewers may find disturbing. vicious, fearless, the islamic state group was an army of global jihadists. hungry to die for their cause. we followed them to

the strongholds and and the fight was ferocious and a close quarter. the american—led coalition unleashed bombardments not seen since the second world war. in the world watched the islamic state group fall. the black flag was captured. the caliphate was conquered. a broken and cowered army of local and foreign jihadists, who either surrendered, or died here. despite the onslaught, some of them escaped. but this was a family enterprise and in their haste, they left behind their wives

and their children. and a promise to return. almost one year on, the leader dead and an empire lost. but where has the islamic state group gone? this is the islamic state group's legacy in syria. their wives, children, locked up in detention camps, still poisoned with their ideology. their plight is a black mark on the conscience of the world. a world which fears allowing them home. in this desert of good and evil, there are the guilty and the innocent. few countries have bothered to sift in separate what isis left behind. the islamic state group

was not destroyed, it was broken into pieces. there is a big chunk of it right here and northeastern syria. is was international army ofjihadists grown from the four corners of the globe who brought their families in tow. many of them have survived but some of them have escaped and others have already made it home. this caliphate is now scattered across the world. and that may be as much of a threat is what came before it. the injustice, it chokes in your throat like sand and she is being punished by the sins of her father. bringing the family here in 2015. when you are living in indonesia did you know it was going to be like when you left your family,

your friends, your home? before, my family bring this to make us here. i wanted to be a doctor and i really like to study. the one person responsible for bringing you all the way over here, and take you to school and stopping you from becoming a doctor. it's your father. can you forgive your father? yes, i guess he is a human being. every human being can make a mistake and he has already apologised to me about what he did, he apologised to me and try to make everything better, but he cannot do anything because he is in prison.

it is the craziest thing in my life. giving up everything for the islamic state group and then, in the beginning, everything is running 0k. but you know, when you are telling me that you came here because you were promised free health care and a free home and a free salary, the question i would ask you is who's home that had been before? did you not think what you would then would have to do for all of these things, you must have seen the videos that the islamic state put out. there are videos, not just of a paradise and a great place to live your muslim, there are videos of beheadings, murder, enslavement, of terrible cruelty. you would have known when you left indonesia that this was no ordinary country. yes. but everybody, maybe you met someone in

—— madea —— made a mistake in your life. everybody has made a mistake in their life. this was the biggest mistake of my life. but this wasn't a normal mistake, you joined the terrorist organisation that was killing arabs and stealing territory in those homes that you data were stolen from people, which was enslaving those people. yes, but we have to go to court. i don't know exactly what we are doing here. maybe three years or four years. without any processing. syria was never a safe place to lock up dangerous men. they may be imprisoned, but none of them have been charged with crimes. justice is on hold

and the men in limbo. admit these hard—core supporters. children are packed in, and prison uniforms too big for them. indonesia is struggling to deal with the islamic state group's toxic legacy. hundreds of others are stranded here. in the camps, the children suffer the most. but it is the orphans who truly have been abandoned by indonesia and humanity. where are you from? indonesia. do you remember indonesia? no. can you tell me, what happened to your mum and your dad and your other brothers?

rocket attacks happened, and i don't know. i ran away and did not see anyone from my family. the aircraft bombed and everyone went missing. and then i found them. what happened to your brothers and sisters into your mum and dad? they were killed. when you leave here, where do you want to go? what do you want to do was green where can i go? i would stay here. where can i go? i would stay here. these children are blameless, but there are no plans to return them to indonesia. and what about your family? what about the children that you brought here? your mother that you brought here? what is going to happen to them. yeah, likel yeah, like i told you. it's crazy. just really crazy. just thinking

what kind of crazy is it. so you think indonesia should take you home? i don't know, nobody from indonesia has come and talk to me, there's nobody. and what he city people in indonesia want to go home? yeah. i'm really tired of being here. so. be thankful if there is people who want to forgive you and bring us back. and just hope that we can get out of here and go to another country. they are one indonesian family among many. dozens of countries are asking the same question. can they welcome back those

who belonged to the enemy of the world? and there are grave dangers and getting it wrong. it is a threat that stretches from the prison camps of northeastern syria to turkish back streets and beyond. we chased the journey of one set of islamic state group returnees across the globe. as is was collapsing in syria, the group had an insurance policy a cell of foreign fighters just across the border in turkey. and in this istanbul neighbourhood, it tightened its grip to indonesian followers. husband and wife suicide bombers, failed to get into syria and that setback did not stop these two fanatics. it failed to achieve martyrdom in syria, so instead they would try closer to home.

their journey was long, slow and determined. the safe house was rated and they were deported back to indonesia from turkey. and then they made their way to malaysia, where they reconnected with the islamic state in journey to the philippines, to carry out a bloodied massacre on the tiny island. their time in the turkish safe house only hardened their commitment to the islamic state. if indonesia is to bring back more is supporters, they will likely end appear in this quiet rehabilitation centre and it was here that they were brought. when they first arrived, the counsellors told me that they were quiet and withdrawn, but over time, they became friendlier. the council believes they had recovered. and so afterjust a month and a half, they were allowed to go free. it is impossible that they were only

telling that kind of thing so they would hear what they wanted to hear and after everything they had been through, there is still deeply committed members of the islamic state group. the counsellor of the camp met the couple. translation: the first time and met them, they were distant, they did not respond to me. there are uncooperative, quiet and did not talk much either. these are the characteristics of radicalisation. did you realise a dangerous they work? i was surprised that we learned of the terrible things we did. and they left here, there are nice and cooperative. they were better than the rest in the year after they left the centre, we visited then and there is still good. i did not expect that they would go back to this path. can you guarantee that, given that there are hundreds of indonesians trapped in syria who support ias that if they will not be a danger, would not commit more atrocities.

no, we would not be able to guarantee that. we want to uncover more of the story. a cloud of uncertainty hangs over indonesia as it does many other countries. and for good reason, after a little over a year or two, the again left indonesia at the islamic state group's command. it is a former extremist who knew the couple and met them at the rehabilitation centre and is against bringing in more supporters. i believe it is too risky. i disagree with bringing them back because it will create problems and they are not trustworthy people. in many cases, former terrorist get involved again with the troops, even after they have been rehabilitated.

do not get conned by them pretending to be good just so they can get back home. if they do, they will spread their ideology, so i reject the idea of bringing them back until they are declared safe. the islamic state group has a living breathing network which stretches across nations. we were taken to a remote part of jakarta, where they met with men who still follow is's creed. the first to arrive at the meeting, he met these men. veteranjihadists. even though we were nearby, watching and listening. we were told of a secret route that exists from indonesia to the philippines where jihadists receive training and plan attacks. these men know it well. they were sped along the pathway.

do you think the safe houses in turkey, iraq and syria are not safe any more? yes, i believe so. because it is impossible to stay in syria. it is ruined now and it has no strength any more. especially after the death. and they're sending everybody back in turkey. have ever been to the philippines? no, but i have said many people there because to do that, they have to go through me. the so—called caliphate is gone. where do all of these supporters who made all these incredible links, where do they go next, do the come here? yes, the favourite destination after the death of him or the philippines here in south east

asia and afghanistan. but for militants, the philippines is better because it is closer and it has opened the borders. there is an ongoing conflict and plenty of weapons. the wild and ungoverned jungle in the southern philippines or where they headed next. here, they would become martyrs and mass murderers. it was the next stage in ourjourney as well. in january of last year, they arrived in the philippine islands where the cathedral was in their sites. once the philippine army was out in force and in numbers, never seen her before. they have been fighting the militants in the southern philippines for decades.

bandits, they called them. but is have supercharged the threat here. and in the jungles, is was wild. an island under siege. just a few days ago here, they found some huge roadside bombs, bigger than anything they had ever found before and that leads the military to believe that the islamists are planning something very big. we have to keep a low profile. we have to get off the road and keep out of sight. soldiers flooded the island late last year after is struck it at the heart. it was the couple that brought carnage to the congregation last january morning. 23 christians died in their attack detonated a suicide vest inside and outside the whole

cathedral during morning mass. their journey to martyrdom took three years and four countries, all the while they hardly wavered in their commitment to is. months later, the cathedral has been patched up and repaired, but the christian community here still lies in pieces. for victoriana and her friends, this was their sanctuary. she has been too scared to return until now. when i turned my head, i saw a lot of dead people near me, the wounded were screaming help, but i was still thinking, who would help us? the seeds of an attack, which took place although in the philippines wasn't formulated here in indonesia by the indonesians, it wasn't formulated in the philippines, but actually crew

is an idea in turkey. it is possible, we do not know for sure where the idea for this originated, but we do know that the critical players were all in that safe house in turkey in a period from late 2016 until january 2017 when it was broken up by turkish authorities and then they were together at a rehabilitation centre in indonesia, where they could discuss strategies and future plans. but this is the terrifying boogie story that everybody worries about when they talk about bringing back people from the islamic state in syria. yes it is in the we have this one example

of people who slip through every net in the book and eventually end up as suicide bombers in someone else's country, it is something that is just horrifying for tenant for the philippine authorities. and for other countries, yes. so even with that centre gone, and the islamic state group still casts a long shadow and other attacks have followed here since. the general in charge of stopping is warns of a ticking time bomb. they are losing ground in the middle east, as they are looking for other places, areas across the globe and the source of east asia as a place that is ripe for migration to this region. and it is a big challenge for the philippines, but everybody will unite and work together, collaborate and so that is would not be able to get a foothold in our region.

there are corners of the rover the islamic state group is not in retreat, but where is advancing. these open seas and poorly patrolled coastlines make it in easy extremist getaway. in these jungles, in the local insurgency has been upgraded. the islamic state group has made them more vicious, and broaden their ambition. once the militants left here, the travel to the deserts of syria and iraq to wage war. now flo has been reversed in there were coming back that'll harden for foreigners to the philippines. —— battle hardened.

but is has firmly planted their black flag in the philippinejungle. local militants, barely speak arabic, but there was still able to declare an loud voice, their allegiance to the former is leader. a divisions with the soldiers is now deployed here, searching for the islamic state group affiliates. but they have not been able to stop more attacks and they admit that no one knows these jungles better than their enemy. they are pretty fast on this patrol because they know somewhere in this jungle, the new self—declared leader of is is here.

he has many men, he's got fighters here, they have come from iraq and syria and they brought their family members with them and he has already shown that he is willing to do the islamic state group's bidding and there is a fear here that despite the presence of the filipino army, this dense jungle could become a new safe haven for the islamic state group. and terrorist light in wait here. and we see these fighters in battle. and in their ranks, farfrom home, an egyptian fighter. he died and another suicide bombing on the island at the end of last year.

off—camera, a young arab's voice can be heard. once again, the foreign fighters brought with them their families, the islamic state group staff savagery. they find the body of a shot soldier and even in the midst of the gun fight, they take the time to cut off his head and dismember his body. his remains are being scattered across the jungle floor. the islamic state group came to the jungles not by accident, but by design. through networks that have only strengthened over the yea rs. as indonesia and the philippines have shown, the caliphate may be gone but its roots run deep. i think it's not done yet for number of reasons, the idea of the caliphate is incredibly powerful, just the notion of an

islamic state that governed the world. and even though it has lost territory, the power of that idea remains. and in northeastern syria, there are people from 79 nations are so that were members of the islamic state, what does that mean for the next stage of the islamic state? if and when those people return to their home country? i think he the possibility for border cooperation increases first of all you have people with contacts all over the world but more importantly, you have marriages across regions in a way that no other conflict and no other site has ever produced. there is a possibility that if we have an

indonesian woman married to a frenchman that made each other and married and syria, the they can become a key for collaborating between france and indonesia. it is extraordinary. contained for now in northeastern syria, aqua three has a unique legacy but is slowly slipping back into the world. family lay at the heart of their vision. there were bonds that would bind the caliphate, regardless of borders oi’ nationality. some of the wives and all of the children of is it may have had little choice in it, but they were swept up into the army of the caliphate. the men may be dead or in prison, but the cause is still alive and so is the threat.

as indonesia has shown, the road is unprepared. in many countries, there is no appetite to forgive their sins or to bring them back home. the caliphate may have been defeated, but in the hearts and minds of its broken empire, the islamic state group lives on. good evening, a powerful and dangerous storm is upon us orjust about. storm sierra is very unusual because it will affect pretty much the whole of the uk. these tightly packed isobars will affect the widespread scales to the whole of sunday and a top of that very wet weather as well. the met office have

amber warnings out which indicates a threat to life and a significant disruption for england and wales for those severe gales of the likelihood is that could be extended further north and very windy for northern ireland and scotland as well. at that were not enough we have also gotan that were not enough we have also got an amber warning out or parts of southern scotland particularly for the borders in a couple of rivers concerning that will lead to river flooding and flash flooding. not just for southern scotland, slow—moving band of rain from whales as well. most of us see rain by the end of the night but those areas could see a0 mm plus of rain. with all the wind and cloud and rain it will be mild from the scotland and the mounted snow. these cuts could bring down power lines, blow roof tiles off, cause trees to fall over and certainly branches falling around since the risk to life and quite widespread damage and disruption in places, so let's take

the northern half of the uk as you can see we clear the rain to start with and lots of showers following behind the witchery over the hills and very squally winds and the potential escalation for the central lowla nds potential escalation for the central lowlands and possibly 85 mph gusts of wind was only caused widespread disruption. across england and wales we have the ring to clear but it really just bands of we have the ring to clear but it reallyjust bands of very we have the ring to clear but it really just bands of very squally rain moving through during the course of the day and his winds escalating to a 60 to 80 mph even inland commit really unusual perhaps once or twice a decade occurrence hence the concern that this is a dangerous storm that will cause widespread problems with large waves as well because it coincides with the spring tide. possible we could see all sorts of consequences because of the storm. warnings out the details are on that website looks set to stay windy but cold as well. goodbye.

this is bbc world news today. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: gunfire. bursts of automatic gunfire at a shopping mall in thailand, as security forces hunt a gunman responsible for shooting dead at least 20 people. the gunman, identified as a soldier who killed his commanding officer before going on the rampage, is believed to be still at large. the number of new coronavirus cases in the worst affected province of china is stabilising, according to the world health organisation. we are in a sort of four—day stable period where the disease or the number of reported cases hasn't advanced. that is good news. torrential rain helps to ease australia's bushfire crisis