more than 30 houthis killed in a suicide attack in the yemeni city of ibb. ♪ you are watching al jazeera, i'm david faster also coming up in the next 30 minutes. palestinians deciding what to do next after the u.n. rejects their push to end israeli occupation. the bodies of at least seven airasia victims are recovered. after 13 years of war and thousands of deaths a new

chapter for afghanistan. plus -- ♪ hoping for a happier new year celebrations begin around the world to bring in 2015. ♪ well the program beginning in yemen. we understand more than 30 members of the houthi tribe have been killed in a suicide tack in the city of ibb, south of the capitol sunna, dozens were hurt among them the governor of the ibb province. a suicide bomber setting off his explosives at a religious gathering. the death toll is expected to rise elsewhere in the country. at least 34 people were killed in fighting between houthi rebels and al-qaeda backed

tribesman. we also understand there have been two explosions beside a main hospital in that city that is ibb, where some of the casualtyies would have been taken. let's hear from our correspondent in sunna. >> reporter: sources in the city of ibb say that a suicide bomber targeted a gathering organized by the houthis at the city's cultural center. they were celebrating the birthday of the profit mohammed dozens were killed and we expect the death toll to rise because there were a large number that were injured in that attack. a separate incident on tuesday night. fighting between the houthis, against tribesman backed by al-qaeda also left dead 34 people. the situation is deteriorating, and we understand from government sources that there are plans for the government to

integrate houthi fighters within security fighters. palestinians say they will be talking on wednesday about what the u.n. security council has done in rejecting the call for an end of israeli's occupation by 2017. they only got eight yes votes. two of the five nations that abstained from voting. the israeli prime minister thanked those countries which voted against the u.n. resolution on palestinian statehood. >> translator: i would like to voice appreciation and thanks to the united states and australian, and also special appear ration for the president of rwanda and the president of nigeria. i spoke with both of them they

told me and promised me personally that they would not support this resolution. they kept their word and that's what clenched this matter. >> let's go live to ramallah. i mentioned something about it an hour ago, a senior palestinian leader saying no more waiting. we will meet and make decisions. what kinds of decisions can be made? >> well, david this was supposed to be a day of major celebration, you might be able to hear sirens and drums behind me. there is a huge procession going on behind me. the reason for that is is today marks 50 years since the creation of the fattah party. i think in their calculus they would also be celebrating the passing of that u.n. resolution

with the nine votes, but that wasn't the case and that has cast a shadow over these celebrations. whatever the case in an hour or two the palestinian leadership will be meeting, discussing how they can move this forward, and they seem to be determined to do just that. in the long term they said they could approach the u.n. security council once again, but in the short-term we understand that they will be signing various treaties. they haven't said which treaties exactly, however, we're hearing that they may sign the rome statute. that effectively paves the way for the palestinians to join the international criminal court, something the israelis have been very vocal in their opposition against. so, again, that's what we're hearing is that this isn't over. >> but divisions divisions

divisions. you have celebrations there, and yet we have hamas saying fattah has let us down entirely by even taking this to the u.n. security council. >> reporter: indeed and in fact some members of the palestinian authority and various other administrations here have also privately complained to us about this failure, if you will at the u.n. security council. this inability to get those nine votes. now the palestinians didn't believe that this resolution would be ratified. they always knew that the u.s. would use its veto but they didn't even get that symbolic win, so you are right, there are various factions here that are raising their voice and anger in opposition to that but still we don't have to take a minute out to take a look at what will come

out of this meeting in the next few hours, if the palestinian leadership will sign these treaties. this is very significant, because here again with the leadership, what they say they are trying to do because negotiations haven't worked armed resistance hasn't worked so now they are trying to internationalize their cause. >> thank you very much indeed. 40 syrian soldiers have reportedly been killed by rebel fighters in aleppo. [ explosion ] >> they attacked the soldiers in an area of the city. government forces responded by shelling several neighbor neighbor -- neighborhoods. police sources in iraq say soldiers have been killed in a conflict with isil. at least seven are thought to

have been hurt. all of this while sunni and shia tribesmen in iraq are working together to defend a city from isil. this is with the help with the government in bagdad that is fighting a new force. >> reporter: these men are members of what is perhaps iraq's newest militia. drawn from sunni tribes it was hastily put together by the iraqi central government to defend this city from the islamic state of iraq and the levant. to many the government's move represents a new dawn. shia and sunni tribes fighting side by side. >> translator: we can't [ inaudible ] the city and we're closer to the [ inaudible ] fighters from [ inaudible ] group. we are happy with the help they have given us together with we shall hit isil's fighters and we shall defend them.

>> reporter: officials say the militia has more than 650 members so far. and more volunteers are troining. >> translator: we are proud to be joined by fighters from many cities. we promise to be their eyes in the city. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] police uniforms the sunni fighters patrol the city streets setting up check points. in the wasteland out at [ inaudible ] face up with isil fighters. >> translator: we will never surrender until the last moment. we don't care about what they say about us in the media. what we need is meaningful help from the government. we need more heavy and light weapons. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] holds important symbolism for most iraq yis the bombing of a shrine in early 2006, triggers a bloody conflict between the sunnis and

shias. until now few thought they could work together to secure the city. at one of the militia bases a group of the sunni fighters have returned from patrol. they are welcomed by their peers. together they break into song and dance. the sunni shia brothers will never [ inaudible ] revelations. for now these men seem to have put all differences aside. they say they have a new common enemy to fight. a be it of a side bar to this. iranian state television says they plan on helping iraq rebuild their army. now the very difficult search to retrieve and identify bodies from the airasia flight is continuing.

it went down in the java sea on sunday with 162 on board. the bodies of at least seven passengers and crew have been recovered. here is scott heidler who is in the area. >> reporter: search and rescue operation is ongoing, when it is nightfall we know some ships on the water will still continue to do a little bit of surveying, but most of the operations will stop at night. earlier in the day, it was still very tough going as well heavy rain low visibility and high tide, but the search and rescue people were able to bring some of the bodies back here to this airport, where the aircraft took off early sunday morning. two so far we're expecting five more this evening. the bodies are transferred over to a police hospital where the

identification process will be ongoing. the center that was here is being transferred to the hospital too because that's where the center of the investigation and the identification process will be going. so actually airasia is now taking over the responsibility. the airport administration has handed it over to them and that transfer is going on now. still to come in this program, the prayer camps in ghana which promise to cure all sorts of ills. and the violence which has forced more than 100,000 people from their homes in the indian state. we go to one of the camps set up to help them. ♪ >> the struggling midddle class >> we just can't get ahead... >> working longer hours, for less pay. >> people are struggling everywhere. >> school loans... morgages... inflation...

taking it's toll... >> we live paycheck to paycheck... >> now in a continuing series, join ali velshi as we follow families, just like yours, as they try to get by... >> we're all struggling financially... >> america's middle class: rebuilding the dream only on al jazeera america! >> it's a chilling and draconian sentence... it simply cannot stand. >> this trial was a sham... >> they are truth seekers... >> all they really wanna do is find out what's happening, so they can tell people... >> governments around the world all united to condemn this... >> as you can see, it's still a very much volatile situation... >> the government is prepared to carry out mass array... >> if you want free press in the new democracy let the journalists live.

♪ these are the top stories here on al jazeera. more than 30 houthis have been killed in a suicide attack at a religious gathering in the yemeni city of ibb. dozens were hurt including the governor of ibb province. two bombs have also gone off outside of ibb's main hospital. the u.n. security council rejected an resolution calling for an end to israeli's occupation by 2017. it got only eight votes in favor. indonesian search teams are still trying to recover bodies from the airasia plane that went down in the java sea.

the plane went missing on sunday with 162 people on board. the last people who managed to get off the ferry alive have arrived in southern italy. the ship which went up in flames is being towed to the port three days after catching fire. italian prosecutors have ordered a criminal investigation into the fire which lead to the death of at least 11 passengers. two albanian seamen were killed after a cable connecting the ship to their tug boat snapped. a cargo ship carrying nearly a thousand migrants has arrived in italy. most of the migrants are from syria. the ship's crew nowhere to be found. the italian authorities took control of the vessel on tuesday after failing to find any crew.

they said the ship would have rammed the shore if it would have continued with the route. >> reporter: the migrants most from syria, but many also from iraq are now here in this school being processed by the italian authorities who are somewhat overwhelmed. we spoke to a number of them most of them come from syria. they are very guarded about revealing their identity, because many still have family members back home in syria. they all tell us of the absolutely appalling conditions on board. the ferry left a turkish city six days ago, but many have been on the ship for as much as nine days waiting for departure. during the voyage they were essentially locked in the cargo hull of this ship anywhere between 700 and 750 of them

don't forget and they all speak of appalling conditions. people were being sick because of the weather, rain water was coming through, sea water was coming up. they were given a little bread and some tuna every day, but hardly any water. and some have shown us what appears to be the first signs of frostbite. they are relieved to be here but clearly traumatized by what has been a traumatic journey. and one last detail on how this works, it cost each individual here anywhere between 5,000 and $9,000, which they pay to the people traffickers to get them on this journey which narrowly averted disaster. they are pleased to be here but they are exhausted and completely traumatized. nato's longest and largest ever combat mission officially ends.

afghanistan has been the focus of the alliance's efforts for the past 14 years. now about 13,000 soldiers will stay on to support the afghan army. after nearly a trillion dollars spent what has been achieved. jennifer glasse examines that. >> reporter: in 2007, this province was filled with taliban fighters. nato had already been in the country six years. the fledgling afghan national army joined british patrols. >> it is a double edge sword, we have to go in aggressively but at the same time reassure the locals we are not there to hurt them or harm them. >> reporter: another part of the mission was to get rid of the opium poppy crops. the poppy crop is now bigger than ever and the opium business employs more afghans

than the securery forces. training the police became a major focus in 2010. and now there are about 375,000 afghan security forces they are struggling. in has been a costly war on all sides. nearly 3500 nato forces have been killed. the united nations has only been keeping track since 2008 but since then more than 9,600 afghan civilians have died. one of the biggest killers is improvised explosive devices. the nato withdraw makes it harder for the afghans to defend against them. >> we do not have enough equipment to get rid of the ied's or the equipment to give us early warning, but still we are doing better but suicide attacks, ied's is the biggest

weapon the enemy uses against us. >> reporter: this week nato marks a formal end to its combat mission. but the taliban says the fighting isn't over. >> translator: this war will continue until america and the west completely leaves afghanistan. changing the name or a title is not important for us as long as the foreign forces are in our country, we will continue fighting. >> reporter: and the afghans bare the brunt of that fighting. not only do the security forces need more training many of the police are heroin users. >> many are addicted as we can see in our hospital. more than 50% of police are addicted, so how can we see that we create a [ inaudible ] in the future? >> reporter: this year the taliban has taken large parts of the countryside across

afghanistan and al-qaeda is reestablishing its training zones in the east. the initial mission is far from accomplished. the thoughts on the former taliban ambassador to pakistan who has been held in guantanamo bay's detention center since 2005, he talked to me earlier, and said that afghanistan is still far from stable. >> the fighting will be continuing. i don't think the taliban will take control of the country again by force, and i [ inaudible ] cannot able to control afghanistan, and this is the other strategy for afghanistan to continue the fighting. and i think that if the fighting will continue in afghanistan, it even more wars come today we are witness of that because it's -- they will increase fighting increase the battle in

afghanistan, it will be increasing the priority for both sides, but that's not the way to resolve the problem. i will say again, and the politics is the solution not the military combat and offense. >> and yet we hear reports that al-qaeda have once again set up training camps particularly in the east of the country. are they receiving taliban support in doing so? >> sometime that's the -- some rumors are coming. i am not sure that al-qaeda is still arrive in afghanistan. i think there is no necessity to be in afghanistan, i think now it's iraq and syria, all of the people they have there. and it's really been no opportunity for al-qaeda to grow again in afghanistan to start something. but this is always the

[ inaudible ] against taliban to make them weak. because the nato force including the government they want to find something and to use against the taliban. there is [ inaudible ] there is al-qaeda, and nowadays they say daesh came to afghanistan. >> the 160,000 people have been forced to live in refugee camps in india. after 80 villagers were killed last week by fighters who are fighting for independence from india. faiz jamil went to one such camp. >> reporter: this girl and her brother only have each other right now. most of their family was killed when armed men entered their village. >> translator: i was getting water just outside of the village when i heard the gunshots. at first i thought it was a fire cracker for christmas, then i went home to find my mother was on the ground. she had been shot.

>> reporter: nine other family members were killed. she escaped with her brother. everyone here has a similar story, a friend neighbor or family member killed. an impromptu school tries to bring back some normality for these children. almost all of them belong to the ethnic tribe targeted by a grouped of armed ethnic bourques, who have been fighting the government for years, claiming all of the land here is frightfully theirs. they now rely on food and clothing trucked into their community. what they lack though is a sense of security something police say they are trying to enforce, but it's not easy. >> operations against extremists have been on ann going battle. and we have some areas, absolutely in the remote areas, where perhaps it's not possible

to deploy quickly the security forces. >> reporter: the problem goes back for the decade's old demand for a separate boar roland. this analyst says the fact that the group is small is the reason behind the attack. >> this group wants a sovereign company for their people. >> reporter: they are worried the violence will continue. violence is an ongoing issue here officials say they will keep extra security forces in the area until the threat is over. at least 22 people have died in clashes between brundy's army

and the rebel group. it's not clear which rebel group it is. christian leaders in ghana are calling for more regulations about the number of prayer camps. some have accused, that is the camps, of taking advantage of vulnerable people. >> reporter: this is a worldwide prayer camp in the eastern region of ghana. apart from a few dollars for a mattress, the people can stay here for free though donations are greatly received. >> translator: one day when we were praying, he asked us to put our palms together and drink the blood of jesus. the heavens opened and the blood of jesus was flowing from heaven. something inside my body i think i have been given an

injection. >> reporter: the drink was just symbolic, but she says after that experience she went back to the hospital and they told her she was no longer hiv positive. she now has a daughter who she says is also hiv free. she stays at the camp because she has been cast out by her community. she is just the kind of person that christian leaders say must be protected. >> somebody must be there to check security sanitation and human rights issues are done right, and then the churches themselves must also monitor what is happening, so that [ inaudible ] theaterss -- the pastors and christian council can say we are in this together. >> reporter: the prayer camps are popular, because they are fulfilling a need in society. people are looking for spiritual guidance and healing.

there are no signs to this excluded site but it brings around 60 visitors month. there's also no electricity or running water. the camp is run by a husband and wife. >> some people might believe it and others may not. but i want to say that they have to change their mind set. >> reporter: some prayer camps have been criticized for their treatment of meantal health patients. here they say they treat everybody with respect. christian leaders say they should have other professionals on hand to help. it is already 2015 in some parts of the world. so to those in new zealand, and parts of australia, i wish you a very happy new year.

sydney here with a spectacular as usual firework's display. bit smaller, this was new zealand saying hello to 2015. let's hope it is a happy new year for you, wherever you are. ♪ >> when 2014 began oil was still expensive. crimea was still in ukraine. the nato was in afghanistan. and u.s. was not talking with cuba.