tripoli-backed militias in libya, say they are sending forces to battle isil allied groups. ♪ hello, i'm jane dutton. also ahead, ukraine's ceasefire is marred by fighting. pro-russian separatists claim to have captured the town of debaltseve. thousands of afghan refugees who have been living in pakistan for decades are being deported. a and taiwan companies are being told to share their

profits with their young workers. ♪ first to breaking news out of nigeria. there have been several explosions at an opposition rally in the south of the country. it happened at an all-progressives congress party in the oil-producing rivers state. let's go to our correspondent who is live for us. who was behind this ivan. >> reporter: well jane we have managed to speak directly to the sitting governor of the state who is a member of the opposition and what he basically explained were supporters were about to get started when three large explosions were heard. there was pandemonium, and people began running helter skelter. there was quite a stampede.

but it wasn't clear what the purpose of the explosion was. it is an area that has been traditionally in control by the ruling party, the people's democratic party, and when i spoke to the sitting governor what he basically explained is that many in the opposition are asking themselves the question was this attack on their campaign politically motivated? he said that people even began coming out of their houses trying to chase opposition supporters away. he said they were firing gunshots into the air as the pandemonium broke out. >> reporter: and obviously there has been a lot of concern with what is happening with boko haram in the west of the country. but we have seen quite a bit of preelection violence particularly since december haven't we? in other parts of the country? >> that's right.

and there has been preelection violence going on for several months according to nigeria's national human rights commission. at least 58 people have been killed in the preelection violence that we're reporting now. usually supporters of the all progressive congress the opposition and the supporter of the ruling party. the candidates have called for peace. they both signed a peace accord promising to run campaigns based on issues but as you can imagine it is a close contest, people are extremely passionate about what the outcome may be and unfortunately it's what many here are anticipating is that we're going to be seeing more incidents like this in the next six weeks. meanwhile as many as 20 people are feared dead after an attack on a check point in borno

state. it was manned by joint task-force sponsored fighters. two members of the boko haram group set off at least two explosions at the post. many of the injured have been taken to the hospital. egypt's foreign minister is in new york at the u.n. lobbying for support for a u.n.-backed coalition to take on isil in libya. let's go straight to al jazeera's diplomatic editor james bayes at the u.n. we have seen a push to take on isil on the ground in libya by militia there. and now libya calling for u.n.'s help. how is that that playing out? >> a big diplomatic push by egypt. he is having a series of

meetings are diplomats. i'm told he is going to be meeting arab ambassadors later in the day, and meeting in about five hour's time with the u.n. secretary general, ban ki-moon. we also is going to meeting with the russian ambassador. he said he would be listening to the comments of the egyptian foreign minister. and i think russia being a permanent member of the security council, its position on the egyptian plan is key. remember russia rather reluctantly supported the resolution in 2011 on libya, which lead to nato being in there in the skies and carrying out air strikes. russia in some ways believes it was tricked by that resolution. so the russia position could be key in all of this. the other question i think that will be asked by diplomats, is the scale of what egypt is proposing. are they planning a small operation as part of a coalition

to deal with isil in libya, or are they going to go in to libya in a much bigger way? none of that is clear. it will though i think become clearing. as i say things moving fast in the u.n. security council meeting we're hearing may well take place 24 hours from now with the egyptian foreign minister briefing the security council, along with the u.n.'s special representative on libya. the man who has been trying to get talks together on libya. he said in any last few hours that he believes it is still possible to negotiate a solution to the problems of libya, but it is something that needs to be done because of the urgency of the situation and the threat of isil in a matter of days or there needs to be another option pursued. people in libya, meanwhile are marking four years since the uprising that overthrow gadhafi. but this year's anniversary is

being overshadowed by a growing crisis following those egyptian air strikes. >> reporter: militiamen say they are heading to the city. their are allies with the government based in tripoli, one of two fighting for control of the country. they want to tackle isil-affiliated groups there, themselves and are against any foreign intervention. egypt said its military struck training camps and weapons storage facilities belonging to isil on monday. the president of the general national congress the tripoli based government has described the attacks as hostile. >> translator: we strongly condemn the egyptian aggression. and we consider it to be a violation of libyan sovereignty. we send our condolences to the families of those killed and we condemn the terrorist act that killed a number of egyptian nationalists in libya. >> reporter: libya's political

leadership is fractured egypt is calling for a u.n. resolution to intervene in libya. their campaign happened after the beheading of 21 egyptians in libya. libya is facing calls to bring citizens home from libya. it's not just egypt that is concerned about the unravelling security in libya. the european union is planning to hold talks with the united states and egypt on how to deal with groups in libya, linked to isil also referred to as daesh. >> it is a complex, very dangerous situation. so far it has been mainly for the migration routes. now obviously there is another dimension that should push all of the sides inside libya to

realize that daesh is a threat to the entire country, to all of the libyans, that would require a joint action to face the threats. >> reporter: france and italy with also campaigning for a coordinated international response. warning that if left unchecked, the group could be at libya's doorstep. stay with us here still to come in the program how traders in senegal are getting ready to get back to work. we'll be back in a moment.

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you are watching the al jazeera. reminder of our top stories. in nigeria there have been several ex-motions -- explosions at an opposition rally in the royal-producing river state. meanwhile as many as 20 people are feared dead after an tack on a check point in borno state. two members of the boko haram group set off at least two explosions at the post. libyan militias are linked allies to the legally installed tripoli government say they are headed to tackle isil-affiliated groups head on. they are rejecting calls for international intervention. taliban bombers have attacked an police station in afghanistan.

state officials say the first bomber detonated his vest at the gate of police headquarters. a second designated at a check point inside the compound in the capitol. another suicide bomb attack targeting a police station in pakistan has killed at least seven people. it happened close to police headquarters in the eastern city. the taliban sprinter group has reportedly claimed responsibility. pakistan is carrying out mass deportation of afghan refugees, but many are also leaving because of alleged harassment. afghan refugees say they have experienced more hostility since the school attacks in december as nicole johnston reports. >> reporter: beneath the gum tree this man has put up a tent and made a home for his family. he escaped from afghanistan 35 years ago with one son. on his way his other wive

children and wife drowned crossing a river. in pakistan he remarried, had more children and grandchildren, also 16 of them are now back in afghanistan. he says the pakistani police detained him, and then his son, until they agreed to leave. >> translator: they gave us this document saying you have only three days. you have to leave. what can you do in three days? i was selling things in the street. some people owed me money. i left it all behind. >> reporter: he still remembers his old mud brick home in afghanistan. and its orchards. it's the first time his sons who were born in pakistan have ever been to afghanistan. >> translator: our first few days were tough. i wasn't relaxed. it was all new. now my heart is [ inaudible ] to my own country. here no one calls us refugees.

in pakistan everyone was [ inaudible ] us. >> reporter: in the last month more than 3,500 afghan families have left pakistan. that's more than the entire number who crossed in all of last year. thousands of afghan refugees are entering behind me. and many of them are accusing the pakistani government of carrying out raids on their homes and detaining the men until they leave the country. they say that this is happening even if they are registered as u.n. refugees to have the proper papers to remain in pakistan. there's about 1.6 until registered african refugees in pakistan. the pakistani government has given them until the end of the year to leave. there is also another 1 million unregistered refugees. and pakistan wants them out now. children spend their days making up games. and when the winter is over they will pack up the tents and

travel to their ancestral village, hoping that will be the end of a journey that began more than three decades ago. nicole johnston al jazeera. egypt's former president, will face a fifth trial on choorj -- charges of incitement to murder. he faces four other trials on charges that include organizing jailbreaks and inciting the killing of protesters. in his latest trial he'll stand along senior muslim brotherhood figures. at least seven rebels have been killed in fighting against government forces in the city of aleppo. government troops launched a major operation to regain parts of the province. >> reporter: around 6:00 am on tuesday, syrian government troops launched a number of attacks, battling rebels on multiple fronts in syria's

second largest city. soldiers infiltrated a number of areas south and east of aleppo. but that was just a diversion. the main targets were three towns in the northern countryside. government forces backed by hezbollah fighters and shia militias from iraq attacked the towns. reports suggest that one town is now under the government's control, but there are fierce battles at the other two towns where rebels say they have the upper hand. there are also reports of heavy casualties on both sides as the bombardment continues. the escalation coincided with the special envoy to syria who is trying to reach local ceasefires in the city known as the freeze plan. the government's push on aleppo is likely to deepen the mistrust by the opposition forces about the regime's real intentions. he is expected to update the

u.n. security council on the attempts to reach a ceasefire. but while the diplomatic efforts continue so does the fighting across syria. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: in the capitol eastern suburb rebels say they have stopped government forces from advancing. it has been under rebel control for more than two years. it has only a few hundred meter away from the center of damascus. >> translator: they entered to block the streets and roads to surround our fighters. if they succeeded they would have blocked our movement. but thank god we managed to stop them. >> reporter: the devastation here is huge and no side seems able to defeat the other, that's why the battle for this town and the rest of syria seems endless. there are conflicting reports out of eastern ukraine. ukraine's defense ministry says pro-russian separatists are

fighting to sieve the strategic train station, but the city remains under ukrainian control. earlier the separatists claimed they were in control of the transportation hub, and had large group of ukrainian soldiers trapped. paul brennan joins us on the line from debaltseve. what is really happening there paul? >> reporter: it's very difficult to verify jane. [ inaudible ] debaltseve on tuesday [ inaudible ] access to [ inaudible ] clearly [ inaudible ] going on there, but there's claims and counterclaims as to the nature of the fighting. separatists claim that their fighters from the north and east of debaltseve and [ inaudible ] strategically important site [ inaudible ] ukrainian

authorities deny that. they say they are still in charge. although [ inaudible ] defense ministry admits [ inaudible ] there have been incurings by the separatists troops into the [ inaudible ] street by street fighting is continuing as we speak. >> paul i'm going to cut you off there. and forgive me because i would have liked to ask you more. but the sound is not great, and my apologies for that it looks like early signs that west africa ebola outbreak is slowing may have been premature. the w.h.o. says the number of new cases in sierra leone and guinea has risen for the second week running. 65 cases were reported in the first week of february alone. sierra leone had 76. liberia, though which was hardest hit has seen a significant slowdown in infections. this week it reported just 3 cases. more than 9,000 people have died of ebola in all three

countries. cross-border trade has been severely disrupted by the outbreak. senegal has decided to reopen its border with guinea. >> reporter: it's a long and dangerous journey for mohammed and his men. they have traveled from southern guinea across ebola-infected regions, carrying two tons of fish. >> translator: we don't want to hear about ebola anymore. it's destroyed everything including our trade. >> reporter: they are heading to senegal where they hope to sell their fish. they are not sure they will be allowed in. for the last eighth months senegal has closed its border with guinea to prevent ebola from spreading. the route is used by traders throughout west africa and the closure has hurt trade. >> closing borders is not a very good thing. you are causing panics.

you are causing a lot of stress on the economy and the capacity of people just to go through in moments of -- you know when there are tensions such as an epidemic, so there are also technical medical reasons to chris site the border closure. >> reporter: senegal says it has put measures in place, but there are no temperature checks here. just a request to wash their hands before they step into senegal. customs officers do a thorough inspection of their load. >> translator: we have seen so much traffic coming through. they are carrying spices honey, fruit, and vegetables. they bring essential goods for senegal. >> reporter: their designation is a few hours away. it's one of the largest wholesale markets in west africa. senegal is boosting trade with countries that have suffered economic loss because of ebola, and sending a strong message to the rest of the world, saying it is open for business and it's safe to come here.

there is no ebola in senegal, but just 400,000 tourists came to visit last year. not enough for a country that relies on tourism as its main source of revenue. >> translator: ebola is as much of a health crisis as an economic one. it will take months if not years for some of us to get over the economic loss ebola has caused. >> reporter: he and he men hope people won't be afraid to buy their fish, and as ebola continues to spread for senegal, the risk of reopening its border outweighs the cost of -- keeping it closed at least for now. thousands of people have marched through the streets of niger's capitol in support of the country's military. the rally in the capitol was lead by the prime minister and other government officials. boko haram has been carrying out a series of attacks and suicide

bombings along the border with nigeria. two al jazeera journalists are out on bail after 411 days in jail in egypt. baher mohamed, and mohammed fahmy are still charged with colluding with the banned muslim brotherhood. their previous conviction was thrown out. and the retrial is set for february 23rdrd. peter greste was also charged, but he is now in australia after being released. drones often used as mill stair operative tools may soon become more common place for commercial use in the u.s. but businesses are raising concerns about security and privacy. libby casey has more from washington. >> reporter: regulators have been working on these proposed rules for years, and businesses and privacy advocates have been waiting just as long. the head of the faa saying we

have tried to be flexible in writing these rules. we want to maintain today's outstanding level of aviation safety. the rules would affect commercially operated drones weighing up to 55 pounds. users would have to earn a certificate. the rules would ban flying at night or near airports. they are would have to stay below 5 -- 500 feet. the proposals prose a challenge to companies. >> so for amazon's purposes this isn't good enough for them to use that business model of theirs. >> reporter: todd curtis says regulators are trying to catch

up to an industry that is growing. >> it's not surprised that policy hasn't caught up with technology. >> reporter: as the faa announced the proposed rules, president obama issued a directive intended to protect american's privacy. he is giving federal agencies one year to publicly explain their policies on drones revealing where they fly them and what they do with the information collected. the clock starts ticking on that now, but the changes to faa guidelines are open to public comment for 60 days and then experts say they will probably take at least a year or two to become final. libby casey, al jazeera, washington. greece's prime minister says his government is not in a hurry to reach a deal with the euro zone. there's still no agreement to extend greece's bailout. greece refused to agree to the accompanying austerity measures.

the current bailout is set to expire at the end of the month. without a resolution greece would be forced into bankruptcy and forced to leave the euro zone. in taiwan the ruling party is calling for new rules to ensure companies share more of their profits with employees. but many companies have already moved their companies to china. harry fawcett reports from taipei. >> reporter: there are end of year office parties, and then there's this. as the new year approaches this electricics firm is thanking its employees for their efforts with a multi-million dollars bash. but in taiwan it feels like the real winners from decades of economic growth are getting ever

fewer. this woman has a bachelor's degree from taiwan's best university and a masters earned in london but she thinks her future lies working overseas. >> it takes like a decade for you to enter the job market. and that's the guarantee for finding a better job. and another difficulty is that even if i find a job in this area it's not good enough for me to live in taipei. >> reporter: since 1995, taiwan's gross domestic product per capita has shot up by half but wages have plateaued. taiwan posts healthy growth figures, but that number hides a persistent problem. relatively low wages and poor job opportunities with many big companies choosing to base themselves out of mainland china. companies like foxcon one of many to make the most of relaxed

restrictions on doing business in china. more than half of taiwaneze products are made on the mainland. >> the mid-or high level management okay have to move out to -- with this manufacturing potential. we meet a banker who loved to hong kong ten years ago. she says she misses home. >> reporter: hong kong is very efficient, but it's all about work. after thinking about moving back to taiwan to lead a more balanced life. >> reporter: but for more to return taiwan will need to rebalance its labor market. they have 7,000 taiwan-based workers, but in china item ploys up to 90,000. there has been lots of breaking and developing news in

that bulletin if you want to find out what our correspondent and reporters have been saying about it you should log on to our website, it's updated 24 hours a day. the address is aljazeera.com. the address again, aljazeera.com. in the jostling for money and power, competing forces are fighting for the wealth buried deep in the hindu kush mountains. that wealth is precious rubies which fetch a handsome sum especially when smuggled across the border. i'm steve chow. on this edition of 101 east, we look at the lives of afghan ruby miners who are risking it all chasing crystal dreams.