>> on "america tonight." on the run. fleeing the vicious i.s.i.l. fighters, tens of thousands in just days. >> we rescued them brought them here and now we're going back. i don't care if they behead us. >> with thousands of u.s. forces already on the ground facing the risks every day. >> the fact is as long as they are in environment, as long as they are taking risks of being a combat casualty in my mind they

are in a combat environment. >> does washington have the will to degrade a fierce and relentless opponent? also, teenage inmates rise up, one guard knew why they wanted out. the students were not safe. >> a guard paid a student to beat him up. >> what this tells us about juveniles in the justice system. and was there life on mars? a new moon, how it might help us with the martian past and our future.

>> and good evening thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. this could be a persista pivotar president obama. islamic state of iraq and the levant. secretary osecretary of state jy said countries have already agreed to join. but meantime near the border between turkey and syria, kurdish fighters claim to have stopped an i.s.i.l. advance but not before 100,000 syrian refugees flooded over the border into turkey. the latest with maintain's special correspondent sheila macvicar. >> over 100,000 just since friday turkish paramilitaries today shut down parts of the borders with syria. trapping thousands more on the

syrian side all within range of the guns of the islamic state of iraq and the levant. now sitting within sight of the border. and trapped, too, are syrian kurdish men who delivered their families to safety in turkey and now want to return to the fight. >> we rescued our children and our women from their hands. we brought them here and now we're going back. i don't care if they behead us. >> translator: we came and delivered our wives and children and we will return to fight, until the last drop of our blood because if we lose kabani that means we lose the rejova region. >> their inability to return to battle or get more syrian citizens to safety, water cannon and tear gas. for months this corner of syria has been a relative safe haven from the advances of i.s.i.l. but since earlier this summer

using american made weapons including artillery captured in iraq, i.s.i.l. has steadily attacked and taken territory. syrian kurds are under no illusion about the brutality they face if they stay in their homes. >> translator: they came into our houses and dragged our daughters away. what kind of muslims are they? what kind of islam is this? they are beheading people. >> the flight was so sudden and so unexpected there was no time to prepare. no water stockpiled, no diapers for beaps and no food. -d for babies and no food. the region is home for nearly half a million people. u.n. hcr says turkey is already hosting more than 1 b.6 million people from syria. >> i don't think we have seen

100,000 people cross in just two days. this is a bit of the way things are unfolding. >> reporter: secretary of state john kerry met with other foreign ministers as he tries to cobble together a strategy to fight i.s.i.l. >> we are going to focus today on i.s.i.l, where we have continuing efforts to organize the coalition. and plan the road ahead. >> reporter: one state that will not be at least formally part of that coalition is iran. iranian negotiators have suggested that their country would be prepared to cooperate against i.s.i.l. in exchange for the agreement on their nuclear program. >> the united states will not be involved in sharing intelligence with the iranians and the united states will not be in a position of trading aspects of iran's

neublg program to secure commitments to take on i.s.i.l. >> reporter: the fighting in syria is reported to be fierce, but kurdish fighters have held i.s.i.l. off for nearly two days now. they need reenforcements and help, much more help to push them back. sheila macvicar, al jazeera. can the united states and its coalition forces defeat i.s.i.l. without putting combat boots on the ground? we are joined by retired army general mark kim thmet. he has been in iraq himself. are we also talking about the semantic distinction about what u.s. forces are doing? are they in a combat role or not? >> they are certainly in a combat environment. one could parse words and say the advice they're giving to the iraqis is not a direct combat

mission but the fact is as long as they are in an environment, as long as they are taking the risk of a combat can't, they are in a combat environment. >> going forward, the risks are greater than perhaps the administration is acknowledging here. >> if we want to ensure that the iraqis can do their job and get the support from overhead air support that they're provided we need to put americans there. that's going to put them at risk. if we have the mission to degrade them we can do that from the air. >> you can degrade? >> i think cu reduce their capability somewhat, perhaps cause them to reverse the expansion that they're experiencing inside syria right now. but i don't think cu do much more with that -- you can do much more than that without direct combat. >> who takes on that job? >> the administration seems to depend upon the moderate syrian

forces. giving them more ammunition and more support. >> going to the broader question of what these partners are really willing to do here. >> i think at this point i'd be quite surprised most people would be surprised if any of the coalition partners volunteer to give direct support either advice or direct combat inside syria at this point. >> when we talk about intelligence that could be differently approaches to acquiring information in the region. >> well i think what they bring which we can never have is human intelligence, that they've done and established for years and years of working in the region. some of these tribes don't recognize borders and boundaries and so some of these tribes have connections inside the neighbors as well. i think that's a very important area where particularly the regional allies are going to be a real value-added to this coalition. >> general mark kimmet has been with us. appreciate your insight. and in another violent

fight, could there be a break in the ebola crisis? some countries are shown to have made a difference though the risks are great. back to school was more welcome than ever. the children were carefully checked for any signs of exposure. lagos will continue to keep schools closed for another month. both nigeria and senegal have pretty much contained the virus. still the death toll continues to climb. more than 2800 have died so far and beyond the infection fear has claimed more casualties. superstition and suspicion have killed health care workers. eight members of an ebola

education team were murdered in a small town in southeastern guinea near the country's bother with liberia. >> they just say this delegation has come here, to kill us, to bring up the virus to lie about what happened in other places of the forest region and we have to l kill them. >> a shocking response to those who came only to help. and face an already desperate shortage of human and medical resources. as it is there aren't enough hands to do all that needs to be done. so far more than 300 health care workers have become infected, at least half them have died. >> translator: we've lost one doctor. the second tested positive and another and his wife are positive. all these, that is true and real. we have all these patients but there aren't enough gloves. >> faced with few good terms

sierra leone launched othree day nation -- a three day nationwide lock down, keeping people inside their homes as health care workers went door to door to give out more information and search for victims. the objective, successful. >> the people welcomed the teams inside, the teams communicated very clearly and more importantly they were able to answer questions. >> more cases were found but more often than not the victims were already dead can. and it's impossible to noaa how many are still in hiding. the victims found after it's too late abandoned in the streets with even their families too afraid of the risks of discovery to seek out help in time. >> almost three hours, has

passed. three dead. only i'm left. >> we're joined once again this hour by dr. william schaffner. thank you for your insight on these things. it helps us understand how significant this is. and an announcement like this, senegal claiming that a three day quar quarantine is successf, other countries say we're able to contain this, should we take this with a grain of salt or has progress been made? >> we're in the early days of progress. things of assembling. this is not mission accomplished by any means but we are started on the right track and there is a sense of confidence that

nigeria and senegal that had very, very few cases have followed up on all the contacts and so far there's been no real evidence of major spread in those countries. >> and just the importance of locating additionally sick people, that had maybe had been out of the health care system in the countries, just as they say they have done, through the three day quarantine is that helpful to the process of trying to get the disease under control? >> it's very helpful. now this was a multi-purpose processing. first of all was education. to let those volunteers knock on every door in the country, and tell them about ebola. number 2 was to actually find out where the sick people were. try to get them to some sort of health care facility. and also, to educate the home caregivers, in ways that they could care for their family member, without themselves getting infected. because it was that circumstance that kept the epidemic going. >> right. and as you know this is just one

step one sign of progress. the international health organizations are saying look there's still a very dire concern out here, the possible expansion half a million people in the end could be affected. when we think about this sort of dynamic, this is not a situation we can view as under control by any means. >> oh by no means. we're just at the beginning of what we hope is the end. but there is an enormous amount of work yet to be done. and we need to have a sustained commitment to do it, bomb on the clinical side to care for the patients -- both on the clinical side to care for patients and the medical side. >> the need for more health care workers is still quite dire. >> absolutely joie. these are countries with a deficit in health care workers. they have to be attracted back into health care and we have to train new people. >> we really appreciate your insight, dr. william schaffner,

infectious disease expert at vanderbilt university, thank you. >> allalls a pleasure, joie. >> when universal offenders tooe offenders took over. >> something inside the facility is making these kids feel this way. >> "america tonight's" loirnlings goes in department to look at the mayhem in the juvenile justice system. later in the program, raising their voices in protest. hundreds of thousands call on leaders to protect outer environment. but who's listening?

>> you might remember the wild and dramatic video of a jailbreak at this tennessee juvenile facility. now at least eight of the young offenders involved face an extra year in state custody. the dramatic escape is putting the youth detention center at the forefront of a debate. how to decembe best discipline .

one detainee is still on the run. >> reporter: teens armed with sticks and guns. at a residential treatment facility for juvenile detention inmates. >> i heard some yelling, i heard kids yelling around the yard. they tried to get everybody out. >> the 18-year-old watched as dozens of other kids kicked a hole in a flimsy part of the wall to escape. >> a lot of people have said there must be an underlying reason why all these kids broke out. do you think there's actually an underlying reason or a spur of the moment thing? >> it depends on the kids because some kids get bullied up there and most guards don't do

anything about it. >> 32 teens ultimately slipped beyond the perimeter fence including wallace's son kavonte who disappeared for days. >> a lot of them said they would do it again, just to get away from this facility. do anything except being at this facility. so something inside this facility is making these kids feel this way. >> this is a system fail by epic proportions. clearing breakdown in a way i have not seen or heard of at any other facility in any of the other states where i've done juvenile justice work. >> terry mor moroney specializen juvenile justice. >> what the state provides for juvenile delinquents, not meant to punish, do anything other than to protect the community

from them for as long as they need, for as long as they present some sort of danger. and help them learn to be more functional in the world. >> reporter: kid in trouble for everything from marijuana possession to aggravated assault are called students not inmates and live in dorms that aren't locked. there are treatment programs designed to assist students and help them get their ged. now out of woodland hills and, enrolled in school, he experienced violence that guards tolerated. >> i've seen marcus lucas and a guard paid two students to beat him up because they got into an argument. >> reporter: and there have been other signs of trouble including at least two previous

breakout attempts. in may half a dozen teens violated curfew and got out of their dorms before guards convinced them to come back. in 2004 nearly 20 staff members were injured during a breakout attempt in which more than a dozen teens hurled bricks at them. and just days before the most recent escape the tennessee commission on children and youth highlighted substantial budget reductions and told the state the juvenile justice system critically needs additional funding to improve staffing and programming within the youth development centers as well as a system that uses smaller more therapeutic facilities. professor moroney says woodland hills hardly feels therapeutic. >> woodland hills is for all intents and purposes a prison. it looks like a prison and runs like a prison. >> this is the road where the center is located, it's not

supposed to be like a prison. what we have to pass, in order to get there, up on my left is an adult women's prison, it's exactly where juvenile justice experts say a juvenile justice center should not be located. >> when you treat them like criminals they act like criminals. doesn't look like an adult prison, doesn't feel like an adult prison and doesn't run like an adult prison. >> it looks like a grown ups facility more than a facility that treats kids. >> wallace's son kavonte had already been on the run for days when he told us that he felt the staff was too young to deal with kids like his son who deals with mental health issues. >> the management plan i would say 75% of the things on the

management plan did not happen and he's been there two years. >> and i came here not only to talk to you but i came here to listen. >> reporter: this is the man in charge of all the youth development insertion. or ydcs, in this state. commissioner jim henry. even with the history of incidents at woodland hills, he told us the most recent incident came as a surprise. >> i was really shocked because i wasn't aware of the incidents that occurred there. i thought we were pretty far along with the rest of our facilities but apparently we have something to do with our ydcs. >> what do you say when people say everything is out of control in ydc? >> you take a look at what the incidents have been over the last 20 years. yes, this is one that received a lot of recognition but very few instances and we helped a lot of kids. >> reporter: henry says he's

open to change and wants to improve. >> between july and september, 2012, the police were called 47 times. >> in the aftermath of the escape he faced some angry residents at a community meeting. >> you're lucky one of the kids broke into the house and did bodily harm. >> even wallace stepped up to the mic. >> there were kids, 47 kids, a lot of kids babysitting kids. >> angel raney is a former guard at woodland hills. >> i think in my heart a lot of the kids don't have anyone to kind of talk to that really believes in them. >> ramey says she looked at woodland hills in 2006 and new many qualified guards but says there's bad apples who mistreeded kids. >> tired of getting treated like

animals. we have to have decent people working there because if you don't, things like this happen, 32 escape and that's pretty bad. >> commissioner henry says he's listening. >> we have to have a balance between therapeutic services and this community. this community has got to be safe we know that, we think we've secured the facility. next we'll try to train the guards better. >> while henry is still trying to get to the bottom of the recent breakout jeremy hollis says he believes some of the kids left because they felt unsafe. >> how hard was it for you to decide, you weren't going to go with them? >> it wasn't very hard. i've changed i wasn't going to make a dumb decision like that because i was leaving in two days. >> he says woodland hills helped him turn his life around but with scenes like this

administrators admit they have work to do so they can help others like him. lori jane gliha, al jazeera, nashville. >> so what can make a difference in the lives of troubled young people? we're joined by melissa sickman, joining us from pittsburgh this hour. melissa, what this might tell us about juvenile justice in the country, this is on the forefront the notion of a residential facility where the young juvenile offenders are considered students, and in school, not jailed and in prison, right? >> well, the idea behind facilities like this is to teach kids how to be good citizens. so they are students. but i think the person in your piece mentioned if you treat them like criminals three are going to behave like criminals. so the balance between security

and rehabilitation or treatment is a delicate balance. it's a tough, tough job running facilities. the trend is away from very secure facilities. like the one at woodland hills. the vast majority of kids are no longer in facilities like that. they're in facilities that look every bit maybe like a college campus or in some places like group homes that might look like your house or my house. >> so what you're saying here is just changing the name saying it's a treatment center calling these young people students, is it really enough? you have to really change the environment? another question then would be also a matter of resources. that is could a situation like this occur because not enough resources are being applied to guarding and securing a facility like this? >> well, i think it's not just, you know, the environment, it's the whole culture change. if your staff have been trained

to be guards, it's going to be hard to have them become teachers and counselors. it's a different mindset completely. >> and what about engagement with the outside, that is while these young people in the case of that one father, his son had been there for a couple years already, what about the engagement with families in a facility like this? can that be an opportunity to help a young person reaacclimate in the outside world? >> yes, catch phrase you hear a lot now, finding ways to bring families to the facilities ointeract with the kids and finding ways to bring the kids back into the community in a better way. the phrase is reentry for kids and adults, too, for that operator. reentering their communities. to do that, all of a sudden way going from a secure place and

then go back home, but rather, to have a step-down kind of process, to plan for it, the minute the child enters the facility in the first place. >> melissa cigman is for the national center for juvenile justice. appreciate you being with us. >> thank you. >> next time on "america tonight" justice on the streets of ferguson, missouri with the community still tense after the death of an unarmed teen at the hands of a police. a forum finally with city leaders. will it ignite a new flash point ferguson? our correspondent lori jane gliha is back in ferguson. she'll update us tomorrow on "america tonight." and later on tonight's program, a new moon for mars, sent to visit earth's neighbor and what might be in our own future. future.

>> i'm ali velshi, the news has become

this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. >> now a snapshot of stories making headlines on america tonight. , investigators say they found 800 rounds of ammunition in omar gonzalez's car the iraq veteran armed with a knife scaled aa fence to the white house friday and made it inside. july he was arrested in virginia for carrying a sawed off shotgun. police think they are closing in on acre -- eric frein. credible tips where he may be

hiding. frein calls himself a survivalist, may be hiding in bunkers in the mountains. three afghan soldiers have a lot of explaining to do, they are in custody after leaving a training exercise after leaving a training base, thorgts picked authorities picked them up trying to cross the canadian border. president continues his campaign to gain support in his fight against i.s.i.l. a michigan family seeking freedom for their son. last fall we first introduced you to the family of amir heckmati. jailed in iran for three years. tonight there's more to it. first there's a look at sheila macvicar's original report. >> reporter: december 18th,

2011, iranian state television. >> my name is amir. heckmati. >> amir heckmati, born in flagstaff arizona, to iranian parents, benaz and ali high school hockey star an american combat veteran, he served tours in iraq and afghanistan. >> i was proud of him you know for wanting to serve his country. >> working as a defense contractor with a sideline in real estate. >> and then in december 2011 in tehran, accused as an american spy an agent for the cia making this public confession. >> and i would also go out and -- >> back home in flint, michigan.

>> the first time it was the news, his face on tv. >> it was the first time in months that the family new what amir was. >> what did you think when you heard amir speak in that confession video? >> i was shocked just looking at his face. that wasn't -- that wasn't him. i said michael what did they do to him? >> reporter: there was a secret trial. the iranians produced his identification card. evidence of his ties to the cia. heckmati was sentenced to death. >> it was sick thing. we couldn't believe it really got to this point. >> reporter: months later a new trial was ordered and benaz was allowed to visit. >> he was very bad shape, he was tiny crying all the time his face was like chalk you know it was white. and beard, long beard, no shave,

hair was shaved, i was worry about him. most of time we were just crying. me and him were crying. and he, from that day, he told me mom, don't believe anything. i'm innocent. >> reporter: ali you haven't been well enough to go see him. >> no. i've been under chemotherapy. i've had radiation treatment. >> ali heckmadi has brain cancer. >> reporter: how are you feeling now? >> so-so. i'm just taking it one day at a time. >> most emotionally, it hurts him more -- >> emotionally i'm hurt. >> he's under keep he therapy thinking about him. >> what would it mean for you to be able to see amir again? >> that would be my whole world.

i pray every day that i will have both of his hands in my hands. that i will be able to hug him and kiss him. tell him how much i love him and how much i miss him. >> i suffer a lot, too much, every day. every day. that when he's coming home. >> reporter: sheila macvicar, al jazeera. >> that report was produced by "america tonight's" digital producers azmat khan. she joins us this hour from new york city. azmat the family has gone to new york city, why? >> they're had ahead of rouhani's visit to the general assembly this week and here to show that diplomats and others that they're a humble family and would like his release. they're hoping that with this pressure and with all these countries in one place there's an opportunity to lobby for his release. today they actually met with

samantha powers to discuss amir's case and is he she was incredibly supportive. she said the release of an innocent man would be a great gesture on the part of iran and this would be a great opportunity for them to make this case. >> for amir hekmati himself, have they had any more contact with him to see how he's doing now? >> in the last month and a half his condition has actually improved a bit, he has been able to make monthly calls to his mother benaz, and moved out of the political prisoner ward, iran's most notorious to a less secure part of the prison, and he's been able to have books and magazines that he has been wanting. yes, he's tired and emaciated but he's cautiously optimistic

about what his status is and about the hopes for his release. >> just a quick thought here. of course we're so moved by his father's story and the worry that he as a father must be going through. now is there any update on his condition? >> his father is actually suffered a third stroke since amir has been in prison and his condition has deteriorated. he was in rehab since april and released three weeks ago. he's not doing well and the family had talked to his doctor who says she is not quite sure how long he has to live. amir's sister sarah told me they're not sure when he might have another stroke so this is a very serious consideration. they say when they talk to amir this is something he brings up. he's very concerned about his father's health they say and it is certainly weighing on him. doctors say his pain isn't just physical but it's also emotional. >> we'll count on you to watch this story closely and give us

updates. humanitarian crisis on the ground gets worse. as we reported earlier, over the weekend more than 100,000 syrian kurds crossed into turkey, and northern iraq, yazidi still held captive by i.s.i.l. forces. al jazeera's jane arraf brings us a report from one of the most vulnerable communities in iraq. >> reporter: tending the sacred fires the keepers of the flame like 365 -- light 365 candles here at dusk. this is la lesh in the northern mountains of iraq. yazidis, believe this is the first place the sun's rays ever touched. to th to the yazidis, everything

here is sacred. with the future of yazidis in doubt here it is not clear whether his sons will. >> translator: we have been walking this earth for a long time, since the time of the sumarians, the assyrians and the babebabylonians. >> jemal says they need international protection. >> these are our lands, our ancestors' lands. our young people say they want to go to america or european countries. they have seen atrocities and are terrified. they say we don't want to stay in this country. but if a country like america or russia offers us protection we would stay. >> reporter: this is a small and secretive religion.

the yazidis believe god entrusted the world to seven persians. driven by religious ideology islamic state fighters believe it's their duty to kill the men and their right to take the women. this shrine is normally a place of joy but no longer. saki marad tells the saints sheik adi,. >> translator: they have killed your sons and daughters. >> reporter: packed with refugees in sinjar. now there are families sleeping on balconies. even here, islamic state fighters are fewer than 40 miles away. la lesh is sacred. the people came here because

it's safe. they're just not sure for how long. the yazidis say they have suffered more than 17 mas massas in their history, but never anything like this that make so many of them want to completely leave their land. in this cavern, they believe their wishes will be granted. this young man wants us to know his wish is to leave iraq. have. >> translator: if peace cannot be achieved by international forces we will have to go back to sinjar and seek revenge. because they took our women we have to take revenge. we can't leave peacefully there anymore. >> reporter: iraq is finished, he says. he broke his back in a car accident in sinjar two months ago. when the islamic state fighters came to their village, his father and brother carried him

up sinjar mountain. after seven days on the mountain they walked 12 hours down again into syria and back into northern iraq. inside the temple he ties knots in slic silk and ask for peace h the yazidis and that he's given one more chance to visit la lesh. jane arraf, al jazeera, la lesh iraq.

>> breaking news out of syria where the first time the united states last intervened in the three year war. hitting targets belonging to the islamic state of iraq and the levant. now, the pentagon press secretary released this state. "i can confirm that u.s. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against i.s.i.l. terrorists in syria, using a mix of fighter, bomber and tome hawk land attack missiles. let's first go to the syrian turkish border, our correspondent stephanie decker has that story. >> frustration is met by force. turkish forces try to control the few hundred kurds who want to return to syria to defend their home town of quobani.

>> we the syrian kurds and the turkish kurds want to go back. these clashes are starting here because the officials won't let us cross. we want to protect our homes. >> reporter: it's been tense as the men brought their wives and children into turkey, to flee the force called islamic state of iraq and the levant. they say they don't want to stay in turkey. syrian kurdish fighters have managed to keep i.s.i.l. at bay for now but no one knows how long this will take. only 100,000 refugees into turkey but seems to ignite decades long tensions between turkey and the kurds. toirk has the largest population of-of-d syria iran and iraq. there has been a situation, now kurds say increasingly under

attack. >> translator: the turkish government sees there is peace with the kurds but we haven't noticed any real steps. they are trying oempty the land of the kurds on both sides of the border. >> but there's a different story. over 130,000 kurds have come here to escape the i.s.i.l. advances. there are over 1 million syrian refugees here. >> we feel we have lost everything. we have been humiliated tortured, i.s.i.l. kidnapped our women and cut off people's heads. we barely escaped. >> many speak of the fear i.s.i.l. creates by killings often beheadings. while these people say they are determined they can beat them, returning home can be a long while yet, stephanie decker on

the turkey syrian border. breaking news, pentagon forces say u.s. fighters started hitting i.s.i.l. targets on monday. releasing this statement, "i can confirm that u.s. military and partner nation forces are unde undertaking, using fighter bomber and tomahawk missiles. given that these operations are ongoing we are not in a position to provide further details at this time. the u.s. statement is looking for methods of keeping young people from joining i.s.i.l. minnesota a dozen people have been recruited. kimberly halkett has this

report. >> cultural barriers and a lack of jobs have made young people targets for recruiters of groups like islamic state of iraq and the levant, or i.s.i.l. >> you can hear times an individual is gone went back and unfortunately has joined such organizations and every time i hear it i'm just hoping you know it's not someone i'm close to. >> reporter: u.s. officials estimate more than 100 marriages including roughly a dozen from this northern u.s. state have left to join i.s.i.l. the fbi says efforts to recruit young muslims is sophisticated. >> we have been privy to some videos which have directly targeted youth here in minneapolis. >> reporter: in recent weeks two men have died after leaving minnesota to fight with syria. many in the muslim community says abdir mohamed was shot fighting along another american, douglas mccain.

the u.s. state department said he was killed while fighting with i.s.i.l. it is not first time young people have been recruited. the problem started in 2007 when nationalist ties pushed young people to fight for al shabaab, a somali affiliate of al qaeda. referencing local landmarks and promising status and opportunity are no match for their limited resources. >> we have lost a lot of kids to both al shabaab and i.s.i.s. and their problem began today machine seems to be very effective. thousands of young kids are at risk. >> a major mosque in minneapolis, the al fararuk center, is under charges of recruiting as many as 40 young people.

they say they're not at fault, the community is. >> because these other terrorist organizations see that, they can target if we don't get support in this neighborhood, i feel like there would be more potential risk of kids being recruited. >> reporter: the white house is holding a summit in october to help police combat h domestic recruitment and radicalization, kimberly helkitt, al jazeera, minneapolis. >> say they're launching these strikes along with partners with other coalitions. the u.s. is-d had authorized barack obama had authorized strikes in iraq in the fight against i.s.i.l. but this is the first time that they are entering syria. they are not entering with the cooperation of the syrian government who had said the only way they would be allowing international forces to join the

fight against i.s.i.l. was along with damascus but the u.s. has chosen not ofight with the syrian government. now syrian government forces are continuing to bomb yawr areas in itlip province. the death toll from the strikes is expected to rise because many victims are still in critical condition. ali mustafa has the details. >> the family of 40 people used to live in this house now reduced to a pile of rubble. it was destroyed by missiles from a syrian fighter jet on sunday. none of the family members survived. rescue workers have pulled out 25 bodies so far most of them women and children. syrian deposit forces have been bombing esem a town of 14,000 people in itlib mofns for months now, the government, is using

all means possible to get it back. most of the are victim are poor people. >> all women and children died all of them civilians. >> reporter: rescue workers race against time desperate to find survivors. down the street they pull out ala, he doesn't know it yet but most of his family is dead. >> this woman has also lost most of her family except the child she holds in her arms. >> translator: it was me my son and my uncle's family from under the debris. what have we done? may god avenge them. >> forces continue bombing civilian areas. ali mustafa, al jazeera. >> we can now go to our

correspondent who joins us on the phone. imran, the u.s. has started air strikes in syria was this expected at all? >> it is expected that they were going to do something, president obama has always made his options clear saying that they would go after i.s.i.l. targets wherever they were. the timing of this, it comes quite soon after they started hitting targets within iraq civil. over the last 24, 48 hours they started hitting targets in iraq is a little surprising. many thought there would be plots more legal machinations, before the americans went in to hit targets within syria. technically, they have to be invited in by president bashar al-assad, to hit targets in syria, otherwise it does amount to somewhat murky if not illegal military action. authorities have hit these

targets using themselves and other nations as well, hearing from the pentagon so the timing is a little bit, this major operation. >> imran, what impacts have air strikes in iraq had, the u.s. air strikes in the fight against i.s.i.l? >> well, they have turned the fight against i.s.i.l, quite decisively in some places, open up supply lines, i.s.i.l. did have control of major laces here on the ground and they actually what they lafs do is take a lot of the pressure ooff the iraq airm. they have been able to go in and clear the areas. the air strikes, the size of these air strikes will be significant. if the americans and their partners have managed to hit key targets within syria and replicate what they have done in iran, with the aid to disrupt

quite significantly i.s.i.l. operations. >> imran how important is it that the i.s.i.l. operation is tackled in syria for the problems to be addressed in iraq? >> you speak to most people here in iraq and what they will tell you is there is no solution without a solution inside syria. that's always been the case. you can beat i.s.i.l. back in iraq, but they'll only go across the border and go back to their safe havens, back into civilian populations and hide in civilian areas there's no way that we'll be able to find them. we need a solution on both sides but it can't be a military solution there's got to be a political solution as well. iraqi government, iranian government, and the regional partners going to see what this, the americans will be true otheir words, they said they would go after i.s.i.l. targets wherever they were, they've done

this now, let's see what difference it makes on the ground. >> having won in syria is a whole other story but is iraq heading towards some sort of a political consensus? >> that's absolutely right. this new government has welcomed the international coalition of the willing called against i.s.i.l, said this is something that should have happened a very long time ago. indeed the only reason the coalition happened is because the iraqis promised a unity government. we have gotten to a stage where there has been a unity government, there has been formed of sorts, i have to stress of sorts because they haven't fill opposition -- filled key positions which include the minister of interior and the minister o of defense.

haider al-abadi feels he's weak at the moment. the americans have backed him and said despite you haven't filled these two key positions because that's how strongly and how important they see this fight and as soon as iraq got a government in place that's when the americans decided that they were going to put together this coalition of the willing, effects of which we've seen in syria since then. >> okay, imran khan, to update our viewers it is now 2 gmt. just moments ago we heard from the u.s. breaking news out of syria where for the first time the united states has attacked i.s.i.l. targets there. pentagon sources said that u.s. fighters attacked i.s.i.l. thrargts. i can confirm that partner nation forces are undertaking military action against i.s.i.l. targets in