♪ >> the fight against boka haram is growing. chad's troops have arrived in cam aroon. kamaroon. good to have you with us. i am david foster. coming up in the next 30 minutes here on al jazeera: libya's warring faxes declare a cease-fire but long-term peace talks remain uncertain. elderly and afraid but now free. about 200 members of the yazidis have been released by isil in

northern iraq. an awesome site. celebrating mass with saint francis on the last day of his trip to the philippines. syria, several hezbollah fighters have been killed from an alleged attack by israeli air attacks today not fear from the border with lebanon. in beirut with more on this. tell us what you know. >> we are still getting information. the information we have is an israeli hedge staktdz the out outskirts of the town in southern syria on the border with israel. it's been confirmed by hezbollah that the son of imad mahari his

name was jihad was killed in that attack. still trying to get more information. he is a field commander for hezbollah. more information still waiting dom through at this stage. the syrian observatory is saying that six pro-assad allies were killed in that attack. so that is as much information as we have so far. >> the information i have here -- correct me if i am wrong is that it's the son of i amad the kognia who was killed in dubai about 2008, i think it was. is this not the first time israel is alleged to have attacked across syrian territory? >> that's right but it's the first time we have had an attack of thisnate. we haven't had a great deal of information about people of this nature being attacked before. we are trying to find more

detail about this specific attack. it will have repercussions as it turns out to be as you have said, you know somebody associated with this attack in dubai. >> more information as we get it for now, nicole johnston thank you very much indeed live from beirut. isil has released about 200 captives from the minoritiyazy yadi community taken to kurdish held territory. not clear why they were released. many are elderly. jane araff reports from the capitol of baghdad. >> reporter: most were elderly, disabled or sick. all of them were traumatized. among them are some of the oldest members of an ancient religious minority under attack by isil. when the gunmen rampaged through their homeland near sinjar mountain, these yazidis were taken near the syrian border.

they were taken from there to motionul where he is ill decided it didn't want them mosul >> we told them that we would become muslim and they didn't hurt us. but they kept on kidnapping girls. they kidnapped my neighbor a young yazidi girl and another neighbor who is christian. kurdish forces picked up the yazidi and gave them medical treatment before sending them to a camp near dohook for displaced iraqis. it wasn't entirely clear why isil release did them. activists could say because the

radical group increasingly under siege by fighting can no longer take care of such a large number of prisoners. isil has killed hundreds of yazidi men and said it won't harm those who con vert. more than 4,000 are believed still held byis ill. almost half are women. the group said it doesn't rec recognize their religion so it considers them to be spoils of war to be used bought and sold leaving their agonized families waiting and wondering if they will ever see them again. jane araff, al jazeera, baghdad. >> meanwhile, a top afghan general and the interior ministry there have confirmed the presence of isil in their country. jennifer glasse has more on this from the afghan capitol, kabul. >> confirmation not only from the minister of interior but a senior afghan general who is a commander of ground forces here he was speaking in northern afghanistan and he says that

there have been elements of is of the islamic state, operating here in afghanistan, trying to recruit under the is flag namely in had you had munt profess. there is the first real high-level confirmation we have heard of this. there has been reports, but we have seen no pictures of any of these fighters or of the i.s flags. of course these are remote areas where fighting has been very very difficult and difficult to get to. but the commander of afghan army ground forces confirming a report that the i s is trying to rekrurt inside afghanistan. >> in libya, the tripoli based leadership says it will attend u.n.-sponsored talks if they are held inside the country. the arrival government has just declared a cease-fire while the malitias loyal to tripoli have agreed to lay down weapons last friday. kim vannel has more. >> reporter: the lawlessness in

libya, no morning in the eastern city of benghazi. they probably want family homes and now they are used for cover. the streets are deserted. the battlefield is a crowded space. bengs on one side, troops loyal to a former general haliva hafta, the internationally recognized government these troops were recently made an official part of the army. on the other side a number of malitias including the powerful alliance libya dawn. it's fighters seized tripoli in august leading to the reinstating of the general national congress who's mandate had expired. >> forced the elected government to leave tripoli for tobrook and created a political deadlock with bothsized using irregular armed groups to fight for control. last week u.n.-response offered talks began in geneva but the tripoli leadership wasn't represented. now, the two main players each announced a cease-fire that's

renewed on theptimism. >> it's the xwichings of the many months u.n. process to attempt to bring together the rival sides who constitute the tripoli government and the tobrook government. one of the conditions is both sides agree to a cease-fire. however, it's only moderately promising because within the tripoli action known as "libya dawn," some actors, main malitias have agreed but others like salif badiosukojuma or junsora have not agreed. >> reporter: they have warned this could be libya's last chance to avoid a civil war? >> the country is close to total chaos. and that if they miss this opportunity, it's very difficult to imagine that there will be a situation in the country that will allow easily to started a new process. >> medics in benghazi say at least 600 people have been

killed in the violence in the past three months along. a deepening divide between two sides who both claim the right to rule the country. kim van ill, al jazeera. >>. in the north of the country, five people were killed dozens were wounded, we are told. a suicide bomber having reportedly driven a car packed with explosives into a busy bus station. no group has said it was behind the attack. it's the third such attack in potiskum this month. this update from the nigerian capitol of buja. >> so according to the police there, five people have been killed. we are talking about more than adowns people wounded by the blast. it's in the town of potiskum. it has been hit several times. this is not the first time it has been hit this year as well

less than 10 days ago, there was an attack and boka haram, suspected boka haram members carried out the attack. although there is no claim of responsibility but boka haram is known to be operating in that particular area and the neighboring borno state. >> troops from chad have roofed in camaroon to take on boka haram just across the board ner northern nigeria. the convoys in the area now in northern cameroon joined by troops from nigeria and cameroon to take on the area. erica wood has more troops from chad rolled bye-bye to join troops from nigeria and cameroon. this is the beginning of a joint military assault involving regional forces.

>> war, there is death. in war there is sacrifice. but we cannot be indifferent to what is going on because we are directly concerned and because we believe cameroon must not be alone as it faces boka haram. chad's police department urged other africans nieingsz join in. the issue of whether to form a broad coalition force is to be discussed with african leaders in the coming days there is a wider interest in launching al coordinated offense. the armed 40s has launched more and more attacks not just inside nigeria where its based but outside as well. as the violence spreads, thousands are being forced to escape. statistics say there are more than 12,000 refugees, men, women and children. among them are eight soldiers

that fled the atrotsties of boka haram. >> the group caused international outrage last april when it attacked a school in the northeastern town of chibook and kidnapped more than 200 girls. most are missing. boka haram says many have been married off to fighters. amnesty international showed the scale of the devastation in two towns caused by boka haram attacks in early january. nigeria is guto hold presidential elections. no doubt safety and stability will be in the forefront of voters' minds. neighboring current trees are warning a disruption by the polls regionally. erica woods, al jazeera. >> reportedly dozens of children

have been kidnapped, a spokesman for cameroon's government and the information minister joins me from the capitol of camaroon. what do you know sir of what has happened. >> thank you for giving me the opportunity to express in my capacity in the early hour of today, boka haram insurge events attacked a village, and they destroyed 80 residences three people and many people teenagers were taken hostages. for the time being i don't have a figure to give you with respect to people who were taking hostages.

if you come back i will give you the information. this is the ation. this is the right moment. >> impossible. there is no community. to come together to put together the effort in order to do this. >> it's not a great line

minister but i would just like to go over some of the points that you made. you said boka haram attacked a village burned to the ground about 80 houses, took hostages among them children and that you would like very much for the international community to come to your help since you are, in your opinion, just collateral victims in this. let me ask you about the geography of this. your troops are hoping to take on boka haram. is this attack close to where they are? is your group in pursuit of these attackers. >> not at all. not all all. the attack took place in the

village there are more than 100 villages. i believe it is the important why the information is brought to the knowledge of the governor or the head of our military to organizationthems in order to go and fight themfieding side-by-side with the army. i think at the end of the day, we will get rid of them. it is a matter of time and putting more resources and material resources here at the end of the day, we have no choice but to get rid of them by fighting them to the end. >> minister thank you very much

indeed talking to us about a boka haram kidnapping and assault on the village on the front here between nigeria and cameroon. stay with us if you can. we have this coming up: ukrainians marching for peace in the capitol kiev. in the east we find people still live nag combat zone. qatar won the second dakar rally. what would he rather be doing? andrew simmons found out.

>> you know how they say that everybody has a purpose in life?

well, at one time, i felt that selling cocaine was my purpose. >> we was starvin', just lookin' for a way to succeed. >> the first time i seen rock cocaine was 1980. >> the murder rate was sky-high. >> south of the 10 freeway, was kind of a "no-man's land". >> you know, we're selling it for the blacks. i said, you go into these neighborhoods, there's no cops you can sell it where you want and when they start killing each other, nobody cares. >> i was going through like a million dollars worth of drugs just about every day. >> that's like gold! >> we can make a fortune! >> he was maybe the biggest guy in l.a. >> freeway rick was getting his dope from a very big operator. i think we're into something that's bigger than us. something we really can't deal with. >> they had been trafficking on behalf of the united states government. >> she could prove what she was saying. >> [rapping] crack in the system. >> [rapping] this is los angeles.

a number of hezbollah fighters have been killed in syria after an alleged attack by annitsisi aircraft earlier today. it was in the province of near the border with lebanon. theitsisi army has yet to comment. u.n. efforts to reconcile libyats two rival governments hit a stumbling block. the talks were due to resume on monday but tripoli says they will take place in libya rather than geneva. a cease-fire is to be declared. tripoli laid down armed weapons on friday. the information minister for cameroon told al jazeera boka haram fighters from nigeria have attacked in the north of his country, kidnapping dozens of people and burning down 80

homes. three people, he says, were killed. he has called on the international community to come together to fight boka haram. o hamar. clad mirror says he is concerned -- vladimir putin says he is concerned about violence in the fight to the airport. there protests led to a revolution against the then president victor yancichian yanukovych. marchers said they were there to remember fighters in the east of ukraine. the country's president petraeus is promising to get back control of that eastern region. here is paul brennan with more on the ukrainian's army's efforts to take the area surrounding the donetsk airport. >> reporter: in east ukraine, rockets land with little warning and less accuracy.

this footage is from volnovaka where 13 civilians were killed, including a routine age girl. the prolonged battle for donetsk airport appears to be reaching a deadlycally climax. the terminal buildings have been destroyed. new aerial footage shows devastation of the whole area. on monday in brussels ukraine's foreign minister will press his e u colleagues for koptsd financial and humanitarian support. pavlo klimkin says regaining control of the border region is the most reevent of all. >> across the border it's come from russia from his part of the border. the border is key to any kind of stable and sustainable solution. more 360 staff trying to monitor, but their movement is limited and risky. the head of the mission is gravely concerned.

>> it's harky, precarious. it's unpredictable. we have to take care of the monitors. in the mean time we have to take care of the operation. >> away from the localized combat zones, there is a semblance of normality in the separatist controlled east. >> despite the fact that you might hear explosions outside, all of the infrastructure of the city works you have been out on the streets. snow has been played operating. police are on duty. >> but infrastructure is only part of the problem. 5.1 million people are now affected by humanitarian crisis in east ukraine. 1.4 million people are described as highly vulnerable. there is a shortage of medicines and vaccines raising the risk from polio, measles and tb. as of january the 6th, the death toll from the conflict stood at

4,808 with 10,468 wounded. there. >> sat ircal magazine from paris shows a cartoon of islam's the prophet, muhammad. the latest protests from niger's capitol. this demonstration was banned following the anti-"charlie hebdo" protests but protesters say they have a right to march and they planned the gatering before the violence of the last few days. let's hear from a missionary who's church was attacked on

saturday. this is what he had to say to us. >> they took everything they could get their hands on for themselves. the rest they burned such as chairs and other objects. there are lots of people but thank god, there were no injuries. they tried to attack the guard b, but he managed to get away. i stayed in the house with my family. the guard said there were people from the neighborhood. they were shouting. that is church. we need to destroy it. pope francis told the crowd sometimes men were what he called too macho and society doesn't leave enough space for women. the mass in the rain in manilla was the final event of the popets six days in awes i can't. our correspondent harry fawcett was in the park. >> the rain didn't let up nor did the enthusiasm of the crowds

out here in the millions to see and hear from pope francis. we arrived early in the morning and spoke to some of them who had brought young children the elderly relatives to receive blessings from the pope and for many it was just a chance to be here and witness for themselves in the flesh this huge papal mass. when he arrived, pope francis arrived in a pope mobile made in the style of a jeep a half jeep half bus that is the signature mode of transport, one and all, around the congested streets of man ill a. when he spoke, he spoke he honored about the infant jesus and the family adopting once again a fairly traditionalist message on the family which needed, he said protecting from insidious attacks. for all of his progressive and inclusive language he has adopted a fairly traditional

message in many of his appearances. there are moments of controverts controvertsiot plane over speaking about the "charlie hebdo" attacks and saying that there were limits to free speech scolding politicians hear about inequality and about corruption. but for the many millions who came out on to the streets today, this was really a very personal land newark their lives and one to remember for a lifetime. shots outside of vice president joe biden's home in delaware. multiple shots were fired near his home. a vehicle which left the scene very quickly. the vice president was not at home at the time. the u.s. has frieda prisoner held as an enemy combat ant for the 13 years. he has been flown back to qatar. he had admitted one counts of conspiracy to provide material support to al-qaeda. his lawyer says only pleaded guilty so he could get back to

his family. sports news now. a little bit of it anyway. qatarts al atia celebrating his second dakar. he is also good at clay pigeon shooting. which one does he prefer? andrew simmons met up with him. >> can we see it a difficult man? >> yes. >> what about the really? what was the tough theist part? >> every day was really tough, you know. the second day o day 9 it was really very very tough, as was difficult navigation side. >> you had a lot to a at this timetude sickness as well? >> absolutely. when we cross to bolivia, we had a problem with altitude. i tried to manage to be strong. i am quite happy to finish and to get this guy.

can he kept him 13 days. >> it's a little bronc like the olympics. >> but it's too heavy. hum? >> what about clay pigeon shooting? if you had to choose between play pigeon shooting and rallying which would it be. >> i will say dakar. the game is very very difficult. i compete five times in olympic game. i got the bronze. my aim now for 2016, to win for qatar. >> other competitors in rio, another sports story here, the south african cricket has managed to break a world record. he hit the fastest ever one-day international century. he managed to get to his 100 off 31 balls playing against the west indies in johannesburg. >> broke the priests record by

five balls. he had scored the fastest half century on record bringing 50 on 16. an unusual color. aljazeera.com for more. with spectacular landscapes- new zealand is a pristine paradise- ranked the freest country on earth. but this south pacific nation has the second highest imprisonment rate in the western world.