the battle for tikrit and mosul - the iraqi government ready to take on islamic state fighters in two important cities. hello, it's me, david foster, you are watching al jazeera life frve from doha. in the next 30 minutes, a video by the islamic state group appears to show the beheading of another american journalist. >> in pakistan - parliament reconvenes amid protest demanding the prime minister's resignation. >> winning the trust.

we look at problems facing somalia's army, as it gains more territory from al-shabab fighters. . >> hello there. iraqi government officials are getting ready, they say to, launch an offensive on islamic state group fighters in two important cities, trying to reclaim tikrit and mosul using ground and air power. the is groups occupied the two cities since june of this year. iraqi government forces recaptured the town of amerli. we'll have a report in a few minutes. now live to baghdad, jane arraf joining us from there. we have the iraqi force, the kurdish forces backed up by the american air strikes. strategically, if the town is retaken, it would be important in the context of what is going on. >> incredibly important and

difficult. i wouldn't claim victory if i was the iraqi government quite so fast. not even to the point of saying they are ready to retake the towns. they are not. it's a huge process, very slow going and here is a diff dynamic -- difficult dynamic. in the north the kurdish peshmerga are fighting. in places like mosul, tikrit - essentially sunni areas - the sunnis have to be in the lead. that is what the iraqi government is trying to do - get villages and tribes on board so they'll back the iraqi security forces on board, rather than fight against them. >> i'll be back with you in a second. we'll go to amerli, where people are celebrating after government troops broke a 2-month siege. sue turton is our correspondent in that town. >> reporter: the siege had been

broken. the threat remained. as we arrived the iraqi army tracked pockets of is fighters in and around the town. seven were killed. it made our military escort nervous. but the welcome was heartening. is forces surrounded the town for months, and the shia turkman community feared a massacre would have followed being overrun. the women took no chances. they knew what the is fighters were capable of. >> translation: yes, we heard what they had done in other villages. we prepared. our men and boys went to the front line. we made food and water. we told them. you go to the front, we'll stay downtown. everyone was taught to use a weapon, when they attacked our town, we fought back. in one town boys were carrying weapons in order to defend the down against is

fighters. four they are free and cheerful. who knows what the damage to this town has done to these young minds. >> translation: the children were afraid. we hid them under the steps when the attacks began. they were extremely frighten because they are kids. they were crying and scared. there were pregnant women who this stillborn babies. >> reporter: life became desperate as food and water became low. >> translation: we made do when we had nothing. when we needed water, we drilled for it. >> reporter: aid is trickling in. two businessmen from a nearby town brought this truckload. these are badly needed supplies, but the flow into town is a worry, as many fighters have drifted back into the surrounding community. we left amerli, heading east to a place occupied by the forces since 30 june.

the battle to drive them out left it a ghost town. the smell of core diet and death -- coredite and death hung in the air. this is a police station. it was used to arrest and punish those that did not conform. this is why the people here fought so hard to protect their land and their families. but they know the battle is far from won. indeed, jane, a battle far from won as you pointed out as well. while we look at the celebrations in amerli, there are communities that are feeling that they are very much threatened by what is happening. >> absolutely. it's hard to over emphasize how torn this country is over what has been happening with the islamic state group. not far from here is the iraqi parliament, where they are holding an emergency session to figure out what happened to what human rights watch says could be

up to 770 young men killed near tikrit. although we tend to see this, the battle through the lyons of the islamic state group, and the shia-led government. some of those that suffered the most are minorities, particularly the iraq yazidi minorities. >> reporter: these are the survivors of an attempted genocide, thousand of yazidi that escaped to sinjar mountain after islamic state fighters took over their town in the north of iraq. they finally ended up here. the rem nans of families -- remnants of families whose men were murdered and women captured. on august 15th islamic state fighters rounded up the men and teenage boys in the schoolyard. >> translation: they told us they'd let us go to the mountain. then they took us to a field and started shooting. i ran away and hid in a

neighbouring village. >> reporter: they say when the neighbours filmed them with a cell phone, they knew they'd die. the yazidi faith is ancient. they believe in god and seven angels. islamic state fighters believe it's their duty to kill them. in thisifiedio -- this video released by the islamic state group, they are told they are infidels, and are given a chance to convert. to save their lives, they do. >> this man who escape the lists the residents he lost. >> my mother, father and brother --a eight people in all. they say the international community failed to prevent a massacre. one of this woman's best friends

was kidnapped, raped and sold. >> translation: what we have seen as yazidis, i don't think others would have felt or experienced. i don't feel i have a county. frankly speaking, i don't feel i belong to iraq. >> reporter: across the north, christians have also fled their homelands. makeshift refugee camps are full of smaller minorities. the islamic state group has a lot of targets. the yazidi seem to have been singled out. it's a small community. 400,000 of them - the killing and capture of hundreds traumatized the community here and abroad. after such a terrible legacy, a lot of survivors say they can no longer live in this land. the islamic state says it

was behind a video claiming it showed the beheading of a journalist, steven sotloff. he was kidnapped and not seen until last month, when he appeared in a video released online by the is group. these pictures come after the beheading of u.s. journalist james foley in august. the white house not confirming whether it believes steven sotloff has been killed, but offered its condolences. patty culhane reports from washington d.c. >> reporter: we will not show you what are believed to be steven sotloff's final moment. in a video his killer blaming president obama for the beheading after the president ordered limited strikes on the islamic state group. the man, speaking english with a british accent, sells the use that this is the second warning and days david haines from england will be next. >> if the video is authentic we

are sickened. our hearts go to the sotloff family and we'll provide additional information. >> reporter: went the islamic state group killed james foley two weeks ago, president obama said he would not stop fighting. word leaked that the u.s. forces tried and failed to rescue those kidnapped during the summer. sotloff's mother sent this message asking for mercy. >> steven is a journalist that travelled to the middle east to cover the suffering of muslims at the hand of tire ants. he is a loyal son, brother and grandson. he's an honourable man and tried to help the week. >> reporter: the 31-year-old scrournalist -- journalist had been held hostage for a year.

it's unlikely that this latest murder will change u.s. foreign policy as the president wages more strikes against the islamic state, now fewer. sotloff's killing has been condemned worldwide, the australian prime minister saying the act underlined the need for international cooperation to defeat the islamic state group. >> the world has woken this morning to another televised decapitation. this just demonstrates that we are dealing with pure evil. this is a hideous movement that not only does evil, it rebels and exall thes in evil -- exall thes in evil and justifies what australia and others are doing to assist people threatened by this murderous rage to protect people who are at risk from this

murderous rage. pakistan's parliament is meeting for a second die in an attempt to break a 3-week long deadlock. prime minister nawaz sharif will be there. thousands of protesters are karm on the front lawn of -- camped on the front lawn of parliament demanding nawaz sharif's resignation. clashes with police on the weekend left three dead, 400 injured. kamal hyder is live in islamabad. nearly three weeks, any end in site, signs of a compromise. >> it appears the government may not be serious in finding a solution. what we see at the moment is parliament acting like a debating society, opposition politicians talking about the soup rem si of parliament. despite the fact in the last 24 hours, the whole scenario was being shown as if the government had scored some sort of a

victory. however, behind the scenes, a political team known as the political jurga is trying to talk to tahir ul-qadri and imran khan to say they need to find a solution to the crisis as soon as possible. there's an anticipation that with all the oppositions parties rallying behind the prime minister, that some sort of force may be used eventually to clear the protesters. however, there is a problem there as well, because we have seen hundreds of desassertions from islamabad police, the civil administration failed entirely. the government may have to call in the army. would the military be interested in dealing with a political crisis. they have already said they are not interested in interfering in this political crisis. we'll leave it there, kamal hyder with the latest from islamabad. chine has has celebrated the

world war ii, highlighting the tensions between itself and japan. adrian brown has more from beijing. >> in the past this has been a low-key ceremony. that is changing. china's president xi jinping and his premier chunk attended a celebrations of victory over japan day. there are many reasons. relations between china and japan soured in recent weeks and months, particularly over a group of islands in the east china sea that china and japan laid claim to. then there's the tensions over the visits that senior japanese politicians and its prime minister shinzo abe continue to make to a shrine that honours japanese wore criminals. there's the rivalry over the fact that china replaced japan to become the second-largest

economy. this, above all, is a day of history in china, and a day of nationalism and bitter memories. >> adrian brown reporting from beijing. president obama meeting the presidents of yest openia, latvia and lithuania. they have been n.a.t.o. members since 2004. obama is expected to reaffirm washington's commitment to their security. his trip a day before an n.a.t.o. summit begins in wales. it's suspected that plans to add thousands of troops to eastern europe will be backed. the fighting continues in eastern ukraine. for people on the border with russia, the conflict appears to be getting ever closer. pete sharp sent us this from donetsk in russia.

>> reporter: it is perfect tank company and a long stretch along russia's border with ukraine is a barely concealed staging post for the thousands of russian troops that n.a.t.o. says has been deployed here. russia, donetsk, with a church, sits on the frontier. from the gilded bell free, the church warden points out the ukranian border, enveloping the town on three sides. almost every day there's the sounds of shooting and shelling, she says. >> translation: the worst thing is we are getting used to the explosions. at first we ran away. grabbed the kids, jumped into the cars and ran everywhere. >> as we left she asked to show me a picture. her 17-year-old son vladimir has been called up to join the army. >> this is my second son. of course i'm worried. i'm a mother. >> each week the war gets a little closer to this small

community. >> the first sells fell on the town, killing one man. this father said his congregation was worried. >> translation: first we were worded, will russia help ukrainians, we saw the humanitarian aid. >> reporter: at the russian border the road is closed, people can cross, 10 at a time. for many in ukraine the door is closed. others are opening. this man was affidavit $500 a day to fight alongside the pro-russian separatist forces in ukraine. >> translation: i met with the people, they offered me to do to donetsk to help. >> despite this, you'll find no enthusiasm for these people. >> we have to send humanitarian aid. the war must end. >> at refugee camp number one out of town, shelter is driven out of eastern ukraine. no call for revenge among those

forced to seek shelter, just sadness and guilt for the loved ones they have been forced to leave behind. >> stay with us if you can on al jazeera, in a moment, how the children of gaza are coping with the emotional scars after israel's offensive. plus... >> i'm phil lavelle in venice. fancy a trip here? you may soon have to pay to get in. find out why shortly.

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these are the top stories this hour - people in the iraqi town of amerli have been celebrating its recapture by government forces. they broke through to end a 2-month siege by islamic state group fighters. the national forces are prepared to carry out an offensive to take back the strategically important cities of tikrit and mosul. an online video is said to show the islamic state group beheading a second u.s. journalist. steven sotloff was last seen in 2013 until appearing in a video last month. in is after the beheading of journalist james foley. pakistan's parliament is meeting for a second date, trying to break a 3-week deadlock. prime minister nawaz sharif's position is looking week as the government struggles to clear the protesters. israel's fired warning shots

at palestinian fishermen off the coast of gaza, saying it violated a 10km fishing zone south of strip. the 50-day conflict between israel and gaza ended with an open-ended ceasefire brokered by egypt. palestinian authorities having talks with the secretary of state on the plan to push for statehood. it will be the first meeting between john kerry and palestinian negotiators since he tried to negotiate a truce in july. israel's offensive on gaza killed more than 2,000 palestinians, most civilians. the plo accusing israel of committing war crimes, and said it will take its case to the international criminal court. it's thought the offensive left 370,000 children suffering from trauma. nearly 500 children died in the conflict. we have this report from gaza city's only orphanage.

>> reporter: this is a place where it may seem bright and cheerful. the underlying move can be dark. each child is bereaved, having lost at least one parent. not all the deaths are in the war. the staff are coping with some of the most distressing cases they have seen. like this 7-year-old child - her father died in a road crash. >> and in the war she witnessed the death of two sisters, and a brother. >> translation: i want to hug my mother, i miss her. >> reporter: that is what she told her teacher. >> translation: our children feel safe here. we give them psychological and social support, which takes their minds away from the war, and the damage that it's done. next door her brother visits his psychologist. he talks of seeing the deaths at the bate han un school, which

was supposed to be a shelter "when i remember it, i cry." don't worry about crying he's told. youcef has severe post-traumatic stress disorder. he moves on to other cases, trying to keep his patients active. >> translation: we as adults are struggling to cope with what we have seen. imagine what it's like for the children. they have social and psych logical problems, and educational problems. >> reporter: this center is small, coping with 90 children. it's prepared to take on more. u.n.i.c.e.f. is preparing to support with mobile teams. there's a massive demand for trauma therapy across gaza. a lot of problems is a lack of recognition of that need amongst the palestinian families. with close extended families, and the commitment to look after children in difficult conditions, psych logical

support can be overlooked. people here want to do more to offer child support for those that can't cope it's unclear if the leader of al-shabab has been killed in a u.s. air attack. six died when a convoy was targeted on tuesday. the pentagon say it was aimed at abu bakr al-baghdadi one of the top terror fugitives. if confirmed his death would be a setback for al-shabab. government troops and african union forces have been pushing out al-shabab fighters from more and more towns. they have the task of winning the trust of the people. we have this report in southern shini somara. >> reporter: it's a day this small town was taken over by

forces. the few people start to return one after the other. this woman god back from a forest. she came back alone. her children are in hiding. few businessmen are willing to open businesses. to deal with these, the commander calls a meeting to assure them. >> translation: we told the people they'll never see al-shabab again. we have decided to put troops in every village, towns and roads and advised them not to fear. >> reporter: there's little confidence. these men are not sure how long the government troops will remain in town, and are unsure of the fighters. lack of trust made up of clan militia man is a concern the government has to deal with. whatever happens, there's no way

they'll treat them like al-shabab. it's shocking that they are not trusted. government officials say it's the final onslaught against al-shabab fighters, and are vowing not to leave any town or village. it will not be an easy task. the local governor says they have a plan. >> translation: it's the people who will decide about the leadership. our role is to organise and oversee that they see the leadership that they require. >> al-shabab locate government controlled areas for the past six months, it is crumpling. vehicles crumbling goods and aid pass with ease. good news for the thousands affected by the drought and hanger. there are about 20 million visitors a year to venice. soon those tourists could be

forced to pay to go in. phil lavelle reports. >> reporter: there's no doubt venice is pretty, no doubt it can be pricey too - unless you do it on a budget. good for the visitors who come for the day, bad for businesses though, who are not happy with day trippers. >> translation: it's becoming impossible to walk around anywhere. these people eat, sleep, they urinate in the street everywhere. you shouldn't be allowed into venice without knowing the rules, to stay here just for a day. >> reporter: the answer - charge day visitors for entry. pay as you come, not pay as a go. $40 a day. controversial - yes. enforceable - maybe. it's on an idea suggested by a miles per hour, but it is a hit with venetians. part of the problem is upkeep. the city is full of crumbling

buildings, buildings which tour of the come to see, but which cost a lot to fix and maintain. money has gone missing. when it comes to the d issue of finding all-important funds, visitors will pay the price. >> a visit to venice, they can control the number of visitors, but creates problems, if we consider venice as a city. we need to have a live city, and not to have a disneyland. >> venice has a charm for tourists, that came in three years ago. around $8 a night for those that stay over. the authorities prefer the words cultural donation to tax. the question is is yet another charge a step too far? >> i think it's too much. >> i won't come back. it will be my last visit then.

>> i think it's not possible. it's not physically possible to stop tourists coming in. >> we couldn't get anyone to talk to us at the mayor's office. the corruption scandal means no tv cameras were allowed. venice has been named a theme park for adults. and those visitors may soon have to pay for the ride.