>> iraq's kurdish fighters regain more territory from i.s.i.l. in the mt sinjar region hello, welcome to al jazeera, live from doha, i'm election puranam. also ahead - dozens killed in north-east indian state as separatist fighters target villagers. a global treaty regulating the arms trade comes in effect. and the u.s. economy grows at a fastest pace in 11 years.

kurdish forces in northern iraq are fighting to recapture some of the territory seized by the islamic state of iraq and levant. they'll focus on trying to push i.s.i.l. fighters from the town of sinjar need the syrian border. the town, and other parts of northern iraq are affected. thousands from the yazidi kurd community fled no the mountains, where they were besieged for months. peshmerga forces opened a corridor for them to flee to safety, but only last week. members of the ethnic minorities say 35-00 women and girls were kidnapped. many families fear the girls shn sold as sex slaves. >> reporter: whenever the family comes together, it will be dominated by their missing

daughters. the 7-year-old was kidnapped by i.s.i.l. fighters when they attacked the village, four months ago. the pain of losing a child is unbearable for the family. >> translation: our village was the first to be attacked. we defended ourselves. they entered the village and started killing people. we fled. my daughter was one of those taken. >> reporter: in another tent we met another man and his family. they were abducted by i.s.i.l., together with four children. in all, the extended family had 39 members kidnapped by i.s.i.l. we don't want anything else from the kurdish government, united nations or the united nations coalition. all we asked for for them to

return our kidnapped relatives. >> reporter: with towns and villages, life in camps like this is a reality for members of the yazidi community. at least every family here is struggling to cope with the loss of relatives who either in captivity or killed by the i.s.i.l. fighters. >> this man is the manager of the yazidi. he says that they are traumatised. >> some of the women here were raped and tortured. these people watched as their loved ones were killed or taken away. huge crimes could have been committed against them. >> reporter: tired of a life of persecution, most say they have no desire to go home, each if their towns are taken from i.s.i.l. >> reporter: let's move on to other news, and at least 50

people have been killed by gunmen in nearby india. they attacked two villages. it comes after indian security launched a campaign last month. some are dragged out of their homes and shocked. police blame the democratic front, which has been fighting for independence from india since 1998. let's go to the founder of money for women, guns, survivor network, and she joins us from new delhi. good to have you with us. firstly, what are you hearing, what can you tell us about the attack and what happened? >> today it's a very black christmas eve for many of us. it's more than 50 people, including women and children have been slaughtered in an act of terror which happened in the sand yesterday in the last few hours.

right now military curfew is on in more than four districts in the four areas, which is the border areas at this moment. it is a tense time for us. earlier this year, there has been three kind of attacks. 46 were killed. this year in may. in the whole state more than 8,000 people have died in insurgent and other situations. military operations are on as well as the armed forces. marshall law is there. it's a tense time for many of us. very bloodied. it will cancel all the christmas decorations. this is an area of india. which the world shows it. more than 50,000 have died. in the past four decades.

>> as you say, this is not a conflict that is ongoing for a long time. why are we seeing the rebels attacking civilians in the latest attack. as we said, women and children. we know that the grievance at the democrato graphic front. the indian army and the government. why are they attacking people, regular people. >> yes, this is an important question. the reason is in the north-east there are 222 ethnic groups, and borders are one of them. each is fighting for the identity. the border was given in autonomous areas. 70% are what is known as outsiders. as a result it is about identity politics. the killing of innocence today

is not about a militant group slaughtering common citizens, it's about shows. failure of indian democracy and governance, in this part of the north-east, where conflict has been on for more than six decades. this is about a governance failure. there's military operations. they have been on in this region for the past 50 years. we have a marshall law in this part of india, yet it is a failure in the making of india and indian democracy that we see in the slaughter of innocent men, women and children, and it is shocking, we condemn it. rather than launching a counterintelligence operation, we must show that the people are made to feel secure, and so, too, other affected populations. india is a democracy country and

must allow citizens to have its space. >> founder for the women's gun survivor's network joining us there. thank you for your time. thank you to bangladesh. a former minister has been sentenced to death. he was accused of collaborating with the pakistani army during the 1971 war of independence. a bangladeshi war crimes unit found him guilty of various charges. a treaty in relation to a global arms trade has come in effect. it is keeping them out of the hands of warlords and others. 70 of those have not ratified it. the global trade in arms and ammunition is estimated to generate between 60 to 85

billion a year. half a million are killed every year with funerals. -- firearms. >> kamal hyder reports from a market where gun sales are thrivingful. >> not long ago. people were walking around with weapons. after a military offensive in the tribal areas, there's restriction on movement of local tribes with weapons. how far, the trade in weapons flourishes. mainly men from the local market. if you look around you find the end feed rifle used by british soldiers during the first world war. it's a hot favourite because of the fact in this could shoot a target at a long range. after that when the russians invaded, we saw the ak-47 coming

into the market for the first time. the deadly weapon wreaked havoc, and the police force had to change their weapons in order to compete. over the years, the influx of nato forces made that now you can find weapons such as the m-16, and for the right money you can buy rocket launches. they will not be for display in the markets. importantly, pakistan's military is conducting a major operation, and, therefore, most of the tribal areas are shield. we are here only because of the local hospitality of the tribes. >> there is a professor of security and strategic studies. he welcomed the development. >> many countries, especially western countries have norms and national legislation vis-a-vis

arms exports. the positive thing about the treaty is now that many countries will be able to refer themselves to international standards, international norms regarding arms exports, and in particular the burden of responsibility will fall upon them with regards to the end use of these weapons and the possible human rights abuses, genae side, war crimes that take place with weapons they have authorised to export. some countries have from the start fought against the process, and naturally they'll continue to do so. but consider what the countries are, and where they stand in international relations today. they are quite isolated. >> an airport baggage handler in the u.s. city has been charged with smuggling guns. authorities used cell phone records and airport civilians to determine how a delta airlines

employee cop spired with a former colleague. the pair smuggled dozens of weapons from atlanta into new york u.s. economy is growing at its fastest pace in more than a decade. it grew by a rate of 5% in the third quarter of this year. gas prices encourage consumers to spend their money on other sites. its -- its. >> on wall street, the do you jones passed the 18,000 mark for the first time. what triggered enthusiasm is a rate jump from july through to september. that increase unseen for more than a decade is a reflection across the american economy. consumer sentiment was at its highest form. much of the cash for the shopping spurt provided by a drop in petrol prices,

equivalent to a 75 billion tax cut for american households. >> reporter: employment gains from a factor. >> offer the past four years we put all people back to work than all other advanced economies combined. >> they are out pacing 2016. it's cautioned that there's room for improvement on the job front. >> with too many people who want jobs being able to find them. too many working part time, but would prefer full-time work, and too many that gave up searching for a job, but would likely do so if the labour market was stronger. >> some warned that the oil price benefit was you unlikely. growth is coming. >> what we saw in the third quarter doesn't offset or undermine or reverse long-term

depressed condition for capitalism in general or its leader in the united states in particular. >> the numbers give americans reason to believe that things are looking up. still ahead - 10 years on, some of the tourists who survived the tsunami, go back to thailand. plus, i'm tania page reporting from nabbedia -- namibia, where dogs are trained to protect herds from cheetahs and

good to have you with us. these are the top stories on al jazeera. kurdish peshmerga forces are pushing towards sinjar, trying to take the territory from i.s.i.l. fighters, who control the town. 50 people have been killed by gunman in north-eastern india, after a campaign was launched against the rebels. a treaty regulating the global arms trade has come into effect. it is aimed at keeping records out of the hands of warlords, criminal right abusers and criminal organizations to syria, where activists report government fighter jets have hit densely populated areas.

the air strikes are taking a heavy toll. the images in this report may be disturbing. >> this injured girl is afraid of needles, as a mother tries to reassure her. another syrian child caught up in a war fought by grown-ups. >> this is the aftermath of a syrian gas strike in duma. activists uploaded these on to the internet. showing staff at a makeshift hospital. many pieces are extracted. this child shows lines of life before they are suffocated. more children from the bombing waited to be seen by the medics. their school was not the on one hit. reports say children guy there. they have issued warnings.

in the war. more than 11,000 children have been killed across syria, nearly 3,500 schools have been destroyed or damaged. many of the schools have been occupied for military purposes. many children are out of school. some activists accuse the regime of targetting schools. neighbourhoods in rebel haired areas have been levelled. rebels say government jets conducted several attacks that killed more than a dozen people. many children in schools. human rights groups and the united nations asked the rebels and the syrian government to avoid targeted densely populated areas, and institutions like schools and hospitals. they have not worked. and with each school hit children pay for a war they cannot avoid. >> the australian foreign minister says she's optimistic

that al jazeera journalist peter greste could be released from prison in egypt. julie bishop has spoken to her shan have counterpart and -- egyptian counterpart and urged him to release peter. >> i'm hopeful, optimistic. his appeal is listed for 1 january. it would be exciting if there were steps taken before then. >> peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy, and baher mohamed have been in prison in egypt for 361 days. they were gaoled on false charges of the muslim brotherhood. they are appealing against their convictions fighting between rival militias might have intensified. 20 soldiers were killed in fighting with shia council rebels. three fighters were killed. the u.n. says the fighting between militia's in libya

killed many. thousands have been displaced. many are returning home. >> for the first time after being warned to leave. this family came home. it was hardly a welcome anyone could want. their home was looted and their village in western libya destroyed. after a battle between rival militi militias. >> everything was taken away. we are upset. what can i say. thank god my children are safe. everything can be replaced. >> this man and other villagers have been the focus of battles for the last two weeks. the fighting left civilians struggling to avoid the crossfire. people say under former leader they suffered. now they are suffering again. in an attempt to end the misery, the special representative for the u.n. support mission in libya met with the former government minister on monday.

they were forced from office when the supreme court annulled a parliament. it remains internationally recognised. the new government under the general national congress. it accused the u.n. of being biased and wanted to to respect the court's decision. the u.n. officials say it is not representing anyone in particular, and the path the country is on is a dangerous one. >> military option is a bad option for libya. it means a lot of time of fighting, losing lives, losing time, wasting pressure time for the country to resume, to build the state, to beef up democracy, and this is why the world is trying to support the political dialogue. to reach solutions. >> reporter: rival militias and

leader are showing no signs that they are willing to put down records to compromise. the french government stepped up security after a spate of attacks. one person has been pronounced clinically dead after a car ploughed into a christmas market. it's one of three incidents that have taken place since saturday the champs elysees in palace, after three unrelated attacks in various parts of the country. the government says there was no need for panic. it is tightening security for tuesday's emergency cabinet meeting. it announced between 200 and 300. >> translation: this series of incidents is shocking and gives rise to concern from our compatriots. we want to protect and reassure

the french. >> the most recent incident was when a driver ploughed into the market. injuring 10 people, before stabbing him in the chest. one of the victims as declared clinically dead. the attacker was unstable, and rumours were dismissed. they shouted god is great. they said it to ourselves. god help us. there is no massacre. a similar incident happened the day before, and said the attacker had a history of mental illness. anti-terrorism are looking into event. it picked out a convert,

stabbing three police officers. now, when the indian ocean tsunami hit thailand, a tourist report killed locals. 10 years on, the memories are painful. they went to the resort town. >> 10 years since they first met, these are friends for life. caroline is a retired police woman and runs a spa and guest house in south thai. the asian tsunami brought them together and the 10th anniversary is a chance to realise how far they'd come. >> we talked out. i saw so many dead people, horrible deaths. i was traumatized, a month after the tsunami, i could not close my eyes because i only saw dead

people. >> some snapshots show the devastation after the tsunami. it was by far the worst affected place in thailand. of the thousands that died here, nearly as many were foreign tourists as thai people. >> it's impacted on the wortd, and was not just local people here, it was international. there were people in the area from every part of the world. >> so it needed to be an international effort. >> what we were most afraid of back then is if there were no more tourists here, what would we do. the tourists are back. when you talk to people it turns out that it's not about dollars and cents, it's about the links between people that inspired them to help and support each other to win a hart-fought recovering. after the tsunami there was

nothing about a few trees. 10 hotels have opened. tourism invited the means by which they showed their support. >> the super army damaged us badly. there are some benefits. the tsunami happened once, we can fix the house, our mind, so we are not stuck in the past. so we keep on living. now, here we are 10 years later, people travelled from all over the world to get here again. united they rebuilt better than before. happy ending to a horrible story china's environmental regulators say they are cracking down on polluters, there has been public discontent.

the number of suspected air polluters referred to police has doubled compared to the same time last year. thousands of businesses have been penalized in the last two years for violating environmental louse. the libyan government proconfirmation policies led to an increase in wildlife. now they are attacking life stock. we have this report from where communities have come up with a solution, gharde dogs. >> reporter: the day starts early on this farm. he has to put the goats out. his dogs don't look like they could ward off predators. the bark scarce the way jackals and cheetahs. they are part of the hurd. >> i'm happy with my dogs. they do their job well. >> i haven't had losses, i used to have one or two goats killed a month. >> the dogs from the community

run the park he lives in. they are from a special training programme. it's based on another scheme that uses anatolyan sheep dogs. >> the community bought a sheep dog for $100. it died. it was too expensive to replace. they came up with a simply solution to borrow the idea but use local dogs. they are used to the harsh conditions. they are elected for loilt which and intelligence, farmers only pay $25. it's been so successful that other communities want to buy them too. >> if they are not losing the last, the overall goal is to minimise the conflict between the farmers, and the predators

are safe thanks to the initiative. and you can catch that story and the rest of the day's news on the website that you can see on the screen. aljazeera.com. >> anyone in the path of the islamic state in iraq and the levant who displeases the group risks abuse and death. but a particular level of brutality is aimed at members of religious minorities. isil and the suffering of the yazidis. that's "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez.