vestigates the search for relisha. next friday, 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> isil kidnapping more than a hundred men and nine boys from one of iraq's biggest tribes are taken hostage. hello, you're watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program in syria isil fighters are under attack from kurdish forces in the strategic province. the democratic republic of congo launches a major offensive from rwandan hutu rebels, and why a mission to putting life on mars

is looking increasingly unlikely. >> hello, thank you for joining us. we begin with the fight against the islamic state of iraq and the levant where more than a hundred men and nine boys have been kidnapped by isil fight necessary iraq. they belong to one of the biggest tribes in the country. this comes assist fighters have found themselves under attack from kurdish forces in the province in syria. and it's a strategic area as it borders territory controlled by the group in iraq. in all of this, the special envoy to syria as they try to secure opposition support for a fighting freeze in aleppo. we'll hear about the fighting in syria. first, we'll get the latest on the kidnappings in baghdad. >> there is no word on the fate of these men and boys who were taken away. the tribe tells us that 127 of

the tribesmen were originally kidnapped. this was three days ago. the news just filtering out now because of difficult communications there. it's a village east of tikrit where fighting has been going on. when they took the men they also took nine boys between nine and ten years of age and they continue to be held. the sheik tells us that they believes it's in retaliation for relatives of the captured men and boys fighting either with iraqi forces or with tribal forces against isil. the tribe was also involved in another attack by isil ten days ago in which isil set fired to 30 police officers and tribal fighters in the town of baghdadi inbaghdadi. and it's in baghdadi that they've launched an evaluation to remove civilian who is have been trapped by fighting there. that town is just a few kilometers from bases where u.s.

forces are stationed. they say they've now opened a core door to the town. they're taking people out and airlifting some of them to baghdad. >> we explain why this pro since is so important to isil. >> syrian's kurds have been at war with the islamic state of iraq and levnt for months: they have recaptured some territory but lost a few villages. it's not an easy fight. in northeastern syria it's home to kurds and christians.

there is an important supply line that isil uses to move from its so-called capital in the syrian city to the iraqiy city of mosul one of its strong holds. >> hasaka also borders sinjar where iraqi kurds have been engages in fighting with the islamic state in iraq and the levant. the crossing is in sinjar, and it text syria to iraq, and it is being used by isil fighters. it seems that the offensive against the group is part of a

broader military plan. if isil is defeated, it would severely restrict it's freedom of movement between its strongholds in iraq and syria. the u.s.-led coalition and it's partners on the ground need to cut supply lines before any major military assault. hasaka is hundreds of kilometers away from other strongholds in iraq, but defeating them here would weaken them there. meanwhile, a group of french politicians has met the syrian president during a private trip to damascus. the members of parliament spent an hour with bashar al-assad although the purpose of their trip is unclear. the french foreign ministry says that they went of their own accord. france cut diplomatic ties with syria back in 2012.

>> let's go to the democratic republic of congo now where the government has launch admit assault against rebel forces. it's taking on a group called the democratic forces for the liberation of rwanda commonly known to as the fdlr. and the army is acting without help from the u.n. mission there. who exactly is the fdlr? it's group includes hutus, it's estimated that they have between 1500 to 2,000 fighters. they're acting in areas of huge national gas reserves. they've been accused of civil rights abuses, murder, rape and recruitment of child soldiers. we've been following the developments from neighboring uganda. >> many people have been doubting whether the congolese government and other countries involved actually have the political will to attack the

fdlr. the congolese government has been accused of hiring them before in fighting wars on their behalf. there are also politicians involved, and there are minerals in their territory. on the other hand the congolese government said it is going to do it. this time it's going to end the fdlr. the u.s. has come out and supported them. the u.s. has urged that this must happen. it's hard to imagine now that they'll turn back at this stage. but the military operations could go on for months, even years, and so it's too soon to say if this is going to be the end of the fdlr. people want them to go, but they want them to go peacefully. it's the civilian population who have suffered the brunt of the fdlr. two decades basically they've seen a lot of very brutal and horrible conflict when the fdlr are on attack, they take it out on the civilian population.

civilians are worried that another offensive means that they're going to get caught up in yet more violence. >> the u.n. mission is not taking part in that operation in the eastern congo. let's go our diplomatic editor james bays. why has the u.n. mission withdrawn its support for that mission currently going on? >> well, you're right. the original plan was for a joint operation between the army of the drc and the u.n. force in that country. they planned this operation great deal of military planning on how it was going to play out. then the congo lease army the congolese army they withdraw their support in drc.

there is concern of skepticism at the united nations even though the announcement has come, that this operation has started, whether it's really going to be carried out. because the president of the d rc has been drags his feet on this operation and trying to get rid of the fdlr. >> what is the security council's take on this whole operation? >> i think there is concern in the security council, too. again, they've been calling for very many months for an operation to start. they wanted an operation that was a joint operation with the u.n. they certainly don't want generals who are guilty of human rights abuses to be leading this operation. and i think there are two important days coming up in the next couple of weeks. the u.n. security council will be going on a trip in africa, and i suspect there will be some pressure there on the drc during

those meetings. and also coming up in the next couple of weeks there is a security council meeting on the situation in drc. i think there there will be pressure put on the drc because i don't think anybody here in new york likes how this is playing out at the moment. >> james bays at the u.n. headquarters, thank you. well coming up on al jazeera, india's swine flu outbreak. doctors battling battling to contain the disease which has killed more than 800 people this year.

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>> now a reminder of the top stories on anger. in iraq more than 100 men and nine boys have been kidnapped by the islamic state of iraq and levan. they belong to one of the biggest tribes in the country. the u.n. special envoy is in syria. they say that the syrian government has agreed to suspend their strikes and shelling on aleppo for six weeks. and in the democratic republic of congo the government has launch admit assault against rebel forces. >> information reveals that in south africa there are fueling conflicts. leaked documents suggest that israel is deliberately damaging egypt's water supply by developing a plant to absorb water from the

nile. we have the latest from the spy cables. >> the spy cables reveal israel's intrigue across the african continent. the resulting anger and suspicion in south africa. one secret cable details a tense meeting at a hotel mossad's south africa chief breaks protocol to call the spy boss directly. it's described as inappropriate behavior. no respect was shown. the agency was very argon and self ashored. he posted boasted he's in daily contact with presidents and heads of services. >> the relationship with mossad is very fragile. minister of intelligence from

2004 to 2008 the cable show he respected an audit of south africa's intelligence sharing sharing with israel. >> i didn't want anything to do with mossad whatsoever. i'm not prepared any way to go into actual internal operational activities. >> the spy cable's also confirm israel's historical collaboration with apartheid south africa to develop new england weapons. ironically today israel is working to stop it's rival iran from doing the same thing. it frequently warns south africa about tehran's nuclear ambitions. in december 2010 there is description of shipment of yellow cake to iran. it accuses an armenian broker. >> he passes through turkey where he would be preparing the

yellow goods. we assess this is yellowcake. from the same country where iran previously obtained 500 tons, which we assess is south africa. >> they urge south africa not to arrest the broker so they can continue to monitor him. >> there is an exercise of cynicism according to another cable. >> israel's tentcals have reached every part of africa behind the philanthropic assad. >> they accuse israel of appropriating african diamonds and arming militias in africa. and it said that israel is working to fuel insurrection inside sudan. israel has even targeted egypt the first country to give it recognition, readying itself to sabotage the country's water

supply. >> israel has developed a plan to absorb large quantities of water as to significantly reduce the volume of water that reaches egypt. >> well, the south africa government has been quick to respond to the leaks by its intelligence agency. a statement from the ministry of state security says that the leaking of the reported documents detailing operational details of the state's security agency is condemned in the strongest possible terms and says that an investigation has been launched into the leak. you can read the original spy cables as well as related articles and analysis on our exclusive website www.aljazeera.com/spy cables. and tell us what you think with the hashtag spy cables.

>> three men in the u.s. have been arrested, accused of planning to travel to syria to join isil. all three were taken into custody on terrorism charge. two in new york and one in the southern state of florida. the official complaint against the man includes the alleged threat to shoot the u.s. president. now we go to alexander who is in new york. what more can you tell us about this? >> the we're outside of the federal courthouse in brooklyn where the arraignment is supposed to be happening any minute now. it was three men arrested overnight. one as he's boarding a flight apparently to turkey from the jfk airport another at his home in brooklyn, and the third arrested where he lives. two are from use back

uzbekistan, and the other from kazakhstan. the potential threat here according to the fbi is a 52-year-old from uzbekistan arrested in brooklyn. he apparently first came to the attention of the fbi in the last few months after he posted a sympathetic messages to a website. that's when it opened up this investigation even further. it is interesting to point out that the one individual from kazakhstan is only 19 years old so it's a 19-year-old, a 24-year-old, and a 30-year-old. the fbi says that according to their investigation they have evidence, they say that these men were sympathetic to isil, and two of them were planning to travel to syria not only that, but also planning a potential attacks here in the united states as well. now if they are found guilty, they could face a maximum of 15

years in jail. >> the we have the latest from new york. thank you. tear gas and live ammunition has been fired in yemen by houthi rebels trying to diverse protesters supporting the di posed president. one soldier has been killed when houthi fighters stormed a military camp in the west. it happened in hudaida where the houthies reportedly looted many weapons. they forced president hadi to resign and put him under house arrest. now he's in the southern city of aden but his presence there is worrying some as we now explain. >> this is aden, yemen's de facto capitol since president hadi arrived here. the houthi militia made the call a few weeks ago and put him

under house arrest, but he managed to escape, and now he's trying to rule from aden. but the reaction of people here may surprise many. >> they're shouting no, no, no. we don't need the in order here. we want independence. >> it's not the secret that there is a long history between the north and the south. instead of being overjoyed by the shift of power people we talk to express apprehension and mistrust. >> there is zero trust from the north and the south. they have received nothing. hadi is a southerner, but he does not speak for the cause of the south. if he does so, and if he makes the right decisions to address our problems, then we will support him. >> people here hope for a better

future and a return to what they perceive to be a better past. the symbol of the flag of southern yemen. since the two yemens united in 1990 people here tell us that the south was let down, forgotten, and exploited. despite the fact that most of the oil and other natural resources come from here. >> we accept aden to be a temporary capitol. >> some believe the possible shifting to the capitol of aden will only bring trouble. >> the houthies are now threatening to invade the south because we have the capitol. we don't need the capitol here. we want peace and calm. they should stay there and we here. >> aden was where mean fear what

the new status may bring. >> a sharp rise of swine flu cases cases in india has sparked a health alert. 14,000 people have contracted the illness and 800 people have died this year already. that's more than three times the total number of deaths for the whole of 2014, which saw a major drop in casualties compared to to 2013. when nearly 700 people died. al jazeera is in new delhi for us. >> government scientists are working overtime to stop the spread of the swine flu. the health ministry has established a swine flu hotline.

>> our hotline numbers have been everywhere. it's working from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and some remain available throughout the night >> they insist that they're well equipped to help the sick. when we took her to the doctor, the doctor refused to admit her. they said she had pneumonia. people have died because government hospitals are ill equipped. >> there are growing concerns that the virus and the fears that could effect the economy. some companies are taking precautions where some of the highest death and infection rates have been reported. >> we've given masks to all of our employs to prevent swine flu

flu. we tell our employees how to keep their homes clean not to go into crowded areas and to routinely wash their hands with soap. >> but some argue the best way to control swine flu is to study it. they argue whether to find how it has mutated may be key to avoiding a public health crisis in one of the world's most populous countries. al jazeera new delhi. >> an avalanche has hit killing 90 90 people in north of kabul. we have more now from the afghan capitol. >> dozens of people have been killed by avalanches in in panjshir province, and they're having a difficult time getting there. basically they have two large

mountain ranges with the narrow valley in the middle and one rode in and out of that province. so far they've only been able to clear 50 kilometers of that road. the province governor told us that they managed to get around 300 people together to try and help the emergency teams but they don't have the right equipment. they're using shovels in some cases their bear hands to try to get people out. but many of the houses that have had these heavy dumps of snow in them are high up in the mountain ranges. even here in kabul there have been snow. in kabul there has been no electricity for two days. the city is running on generators and there has been heavy flooding here. flooding in thest of the country and gentleman jalilibad.

the road to the north has been cut off because of heavy snow. it's taken awhile for winter weather to kick in in afghanistan. up until now it's been a mild winter but that has obviously changed in the last couple of days. >> an ambitious plan to send the first humans to mars is looking increase big unworkable. as key sponsors pull out we ask if it's "mission impossible." >> it's the most audacious plan in history. making this inhospitable planet home to humans in ten years. but that's exactly what mars one, an exploration company intends to do with all the glitz and blamer of a hollywood movie. tens of thousands of people applied for the one-way mission but only 100 were short listed including maggie liu an astro

physics student who has volunteered to be the first martian mother. >> if we want to start a colony on mars, it's inedible that we have to reproduce or we'll die out on mars. >> the huge adventure, and i'm really excited. >> maggie and others could be in for a long wait before going anywhere. despite all the pr, critics say that the proposed timeline is unfeasible. in only three year's time mars one hopes to send a stationary lander and communication lander to the satellite followed by a rover in 2020 and cargo missions after that. and then only a decade by 2025. it hopes the first four-man crew will arrive and live in bodies like these. and all of this for a meager $6 billion. >> it is unrealistic completely from every single point of view, from the experience of people

organizing it, on the budget, on the time scale, it's completely unrealistic. >> the mars one crew will live in confined continues. they'll need to produce their own water oxygen and grow their own food. that will take continued investment. mars one was hoping to get sponsorship from the maker of the reality tv show "big brother." and space x that will be supplying rockets for the mission said that no contracts have been signed. >> we will finance the mission from investments. it's not entertainment. it's inspiration. humans going to mars is the greatest story of the 21st century, and we need to share that story with the world. >> the company says they have now teamed up with the makers of

their mission trail for finance and document the project. as mars one races to meet it's ambitious goals, it's a mission they hope soon will be on their screens. al jazeera london. >> lots more on www.aljazeera.com. >> brief en counters, conversations, magic moments and assorted hijinx is full of personal anecdotes. the host of the show has met and interviewed just about everyone who was someone. >> the phone rang. ali picked it up and heard, "darling?" and he said "this ain't darling. this is the only 3-time heavy weight champion in the world. and i am lying in your bed and ".