10 year since ISIS launched its bloody reign and the frontline on British streets still being fought every day

Having witnessed the depraved efforts of the militant group first hand, Chris Hughes explains why ISIS remains a danger to the UK a decade on

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Islamic State militants captured swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014 (Image: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Around eight years ago myself and photographer Rowan Griffiths stood on a hill overlooking Bashiqa, in northern Iraq, ten miles outside the city of Mosul.

We viewed a stunning plain of olive groves and little villages shimmering in the baking heat as below us hundreds of Kurdish infantry slowly moved towards the town.

What we witnessed in the next few hours defied belief - almost every form of modern-day battle weaponry was thrown at Islamic State in a ferocious battle.

Apache helicopters, javelin missiles, artillery, mortars, US B1 bombers and ground forces who, when injured, were ferried out of the battle by a snake of ambulances.

Diehard terrorists in there refused to budge - even firing a grenade at us that landed just ten feet away before exploding in a shower of shrapnel and dirt.

Through the smoke, explosions and mayhem it was hard to imagine this once idyllic vista being a place where friends of mine in Baghdad had told me they used to travel for holidays.