ream hard earned only on al jazeera america >> battles between isil fighters and the iraqi army in anbar province with heavy casualtyies on both sides. this an al jazeera. they call themselves the army of conquest. the rebel group takes more ground in syria and inches closer to the main force of latakia. >> scuffles break out between protesters and police. ahead of the g-7 summit in

southern germany. and the crowds come out to hear the pope's message >> well fighting has intensified between iraqi forces and fighters between the islamic state in iraq and the levant. both sides try to gain control of the anbar province. that's the vast area to the west of baghdad. it's been the main target of isil's advance. to north of fallujah, government forces repel forces north of fallujah. 22 iraqi soldiers and shia fighters were killed in an isil attack. meanwhile the aftermath of an attack on the al habbaniyah air

base where they came to show that their advance against ramadi has not slowed down. 22 people have been killed. so the plan continues to the west of is samara they're entering the second phase. they continue to regain control of pockets of terrain. >> we reached the pocket much of terrorists. we've seized control of the area we're standing in. we are providing security to the residents. we're backed up in the operation by jet fighters.

it was a surprise to the terrorists that we managed to accomplish the mission in a few hours. >> the task now included patrol, a dangerous mission in this barren land that borders anbar province. attacks have killed dozens in the past few days. isil has shown it's it's ability. >> control for roads and smaller towns and villages. now the iraqi security forces have had some success in taking back those roads in the smaller towns and villages. they're using those towns and villages as a staging post to retake ramadi. but the isil fighters have an advantage. they've got two major border crossings, and they're using those for great affect. that's giving the iraqi security forces a serious challenge.

>> the links to al nusra front fighters have sieged control of the countryside and sieged control of aleppo to syria's mediterranean coast. we have the details. >> they called themselves army of conquest, and they appear for living up to their name. >> the assaults began early in the morning with a barrage ever firing of heavy weapons and machine guns. >> the syrian regime has already lost control for parts of aleppo and now they control idlib to latakia on the mediterranean

coast. latakia is home to syria president and his alawite sect. the provincial capital fell back in march. the syrian regime lost control of another key city last month. meanwhile rebel groups and isil continue to fight each other in neighboring aleppo. that province remains divided. it was "t" would not give up the coastal province without a fight. the survival to the regime and indeed the alawite secretary to which he belongs reminds at stake. earlier three saudi soldiers

in the border guard were killed in an attack by houthies on the border. >> thousands of people are protesting in southern germany. demonstrators want action on climate change and globalization. they're expected to try to disrupt talks between world leaders. more than 19,000 police and military are on stand by. dominic kane reports from the town. >> nestling in the mountains of bavaria seen as a retreat for germany's wealthiest. for the next several days it will be host to the world world's wealthyiest countries.

they will discuss flash points notably the conflict in ukraine. in recent weeks the fighting has intensified. this summit is the second such that russia has been excluded from. the g 7 group says that russia's role in ukraine makes a meaningful discussion impossible impossible. one leading commentator said that excluding russia is a serious strategic area. >> the situation is going from bad to worse and it's very dangerous, indeed. the russians seem to have started these days a new really serious offensive. i really mean the russians. it's not the donetsk people. the men with cossack uniforms. nothing would have happened there without the pushing of the kremlin. >> the conditioning threat of the islamic state is also high on the g-7 agenda. the group has advanced further

in iraq. they're hoping to hold a series of bilateral meetings about isil on the fringes of the summit. >> there is no joint strategy to deal with isil apart from the military campaign that there might an right or wrong. but what strategy do we have for syria? >> as host of the g 7 summit the german chancellor angela merkel is hoping to find agreement with other leaders on issues of climate change and the fight against ebola but some say this is a missed opportunity. the ngo world vision said lowering infant mortality should also be a high priority. >> we have an opportunity to get to zero on preventable deaths for children, to get to zero on hunger. this is a real possibility. it's not just a pipe dream. g 7 leaders can be catalytic and put on the table strong commitments to what they're going to do to make that happen.

that's what we're hoping to see this week. >> then there are the thousands of protesters who will try to disrupt the proceedings as much as they can. the authorities have put on a show of force to try to prevent them. with the hope that agreement on the issues is what the g 7 summit is remembered for. dominic kane al jazeera,. >> the final day of the election campaigning in turkey ahead of the parliamentary vote widely seen as a performance test for the ruling arc party. while the constitution requires the president to be above politics president erdogan has been campaigning hard for the ruling party. a large majority would allow him to change the constitution and transfer the prime minister's powers to the president. >> this is a crucial election, not just for the justice and development party but for the entire nation because at the heart of this election is the issue of changing the

constitution. now the ruling justice and development party declared its intention to change the parliamentary democracy into executive presidency in order to do that they need at least to win 330 seats in the 550 parliament. if they got that number they would be able to call for a referendum for the people to vote and choose if they approve the new constitution. if they want they'll be able to change the constitution right away. now it is shifting towards a dictatorship. >> egyptian appeals court has thrown out a decision that put the palestinian group hamas on

the terror list. in january the court ruled the armed wing was a terrorist organization and then extended it towards the entire group a month later. hamas is an off-shoot of the muslim brotherhood. taliban fighters have taken control of the yamgan district. it's thought 300 taliban fighters took part of the attack. >> the government has started it's campaign to take recontrol of yamgan district. supports are dropped in by helicopter. it's not the first time that the taliban has managed to take control of the district, but they usually can't hold it.

while they're there they tend to loot any weapons and vehicles left behind. this spring season we're seeing the afghan taliban shift its focus of fighting from the south of the country to the north. so in may we also saw heavy fighting. >> still ahead taking matters into their own hands while people are speaking out and taking action ahead of mexico's election. and a special report from nigeria on the millions suffering mental health problems and why they're being forced to rely on traditional cures.

>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the sound bites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is. >> ray suarez hosts "inside story". only on al jazeera america.

>> let's take you through some of the headlines here on al jazeera now. there has been heavy fighting in anbar province between isil and iraqi security forces. military sources tell us 22 iraqi soldiers and shia militiamen were killed after isil attacked their base. in syria consolidating the hold on the highway lead to go latakia. and thousands of people are protesting in southern germany ahead of the g 7 summit. 2,500 migrants have been rescued from the mediterranean sea saturday and that number is expected to rise further. it's estimated that nearly 2,000 migrants have died or gone missing trying to cross the

mediterranean to get into europe this year. many of those who made it were rescued by units of the italian armed forces. we met with some of them. >> their mission is to patrol the borders of italy. but it goes well beyond that. they are at the forefront of the rescue operations of migrants making they their way across the mediterranean sea. >> saving lives are very gratifying. especially children. there was one tiny baby, it was emotional. >> hundreds they started singing they were thanking god we found

them. they were singing. old and young. >> the newest vessel for the border police. it's cameras can zoom in to 10 nautical miles away. that's about 18 kilometers. but finding the tiny dinghies and fishing boats used by traffickers is much more difficult. the search in international waters where other e.u. nations are also patrolling by sea and from the air. this is a ship of the british royal navy. we're 4 nautical 24 nautical miles off the coast. this is where most are rescued. any boat in the area has to identify itself otherwise it's searched. >> further away the german navy. it's carrying out a rescue. it. this dinghy was destroyed by fire. they are part of the try tritan

mission. >> it assists the italian naval forces but there are days where 6,000 migrants reached our area in a few hours. we had to call on commercial ships nearby to help. there were no borders in the sea so where lives need to be saved we'll go where they are even beyond the tritan area. >> this is dubbed the safe area. here the italians are coordinating all search and rescue operations. it's here that we saw the crew rescue nearly 250 people in little more than an hour just a few days ago. thousands more in the past. and while the e.u. politicians decide on the never ending influx, they will continue to

comb the sea in search of life to save. >> an estimated 20 million nigerians suffer from mental illness, but many go without professional help. in many cases psychiatric cases treatment is expensive. >> she was hearing voices telling her to harm herself. so her family handcuffed her and brought her here to a traditional doctor just outside of the abuja. she believes that she is demonized. she's using herbs, leaves and natural ingredients to treat her. >> when people come and tell me they have a problem with their head i pray and god tells me the cause of the problem. god shows me these are the issues in the person's life. through that i know what kind of herbs and leaves to give them. when i give them such herbs god

relieves them of the problem. >> most nigerians suffering from mental disorders like depression anxiety and schizophrenia they go to traditional doctors because there is no treatment for 95% of the patients in conventional hospitals. some get referred here to the national hospital in abuja but it's a long way to travel from the rural areas where most nigerians live and it's expensive to get here. >> less than 10% of people with mental health in nigeria ever get to see medical personnel i'm talking whether they get to see a nurse a doctor,cycologist, let alone a psychiatrist. >> there are only 130 psychiatrists in nigeria "y" while there are while there are many who suffer from mental

illnesses. a trial sponsored by the national institute of mental health in the united states. they believe that the trial will help to improve the services of traditional doctors. >> people believe in them, that's why they go to them. they cannot be ignored. at the same time we need to try to improve what to do. we cannot say that we're going to wait there are enough psychiatrists and psychologists and social workers. >> during the trial they'll visit patients in traditional medical facilities. if it's successful it will be rolled out in as many places as possible. but there are worries that this program may be too expensive. al jazeera abuja nigeria. >> pope francis has held mass for thousands of worshipers in sarajevo. he has urged the them to leave

their troubled past behind. >> pope francis arrived at sarajevo's olympic stadium amid roar of welcome. so a serb choir sang for him. the pope was given a throne made by a carpenter. given the country's past that is great significance. >> it means forced displacement of people, it means destroyed houses streets and factories. it means countless shattered lives. you know this well having experienced it here how much suffering, how much destruction how much pain. >> in the beautiful town, they

have had good reason to reflect on the importance of this papal visit. during the war he was put in a military camp and forced to dig trenches for soldiers in the hills around the town as they attacked the muslim majority here. yet his marriage to his croate, catholic wife did not fail. it's the love story across the ethnic divide that would make the pope's heart burst with joy. >> we gained strength from staying together during the war. we live happily together despite our ethnic differences. >> all the people of bosnia are thrilled with the pope's visit. his message of peace will make things much better. >> part of a local association for hundreds of survivorrers for the war camps. it's the only one in bosnia that caters to victims of all the

ethnic groups. they have not received a penny from any political party. >> there are three president here's. one serve one croate and one muslim. there is still segregation and some politicians want greater autonomy for their own communities inside bosnia. and for many of that many say they're ready for integration. >> the pope meant with bosnia's three presidents again echoing the call for greater understanding. there will be more of this when former u.s. president clinton comes here to mark the anniversary of the massacre. in places here you would never know that there ever was a war. and children would be able to build on what has been accomplish: but 2 won't be it

won't be easy, the forces of political division have not gone away. >> police have been sent to southern mexico ahead of elections there. some have decided to take matters into his own hands. from michoacan, we have reports. >> he's battling the knights templar cartel. as leader he would take out over swaths of southwest mexico. he rows to prominence with his sombrero and his gun. he now has found a new job as a candidate for congress in up coming elections. he doesn't think much about the politicians who he say abandoned the state to criminals. >> they are a bunch of crooks who lied to everyone. >> he sees himself as an outsider infiltrating the

authorities who only recently locked him up in jail after a shootout in which his son and ten others died. >> i talked to vigilante groups and said to them that we need to attack from both sides. we need to get into the politicians' circle as well, and that might make it easier to get what we want. >> with the up rising petering out, more see the move to politics. >> they have become the rural police force with uniforms, vehicles and salaries. but the problems that provoked the vigilantes still remain: crime, murder, and a sense of government neglect. dr. morales is planning to swap the medical room for a political run. her brother was one of the reasons until he was put in

jail. she said she's continuing her brother's struggle by challenging the government in its own arena. >> i want what we lived through to act as a base for change and to help us to decide what we want for ourselves. not through killing our armed up rising but through reasoning work and mutual help. >> the killing has continued throughout the elections. vigilantes turned candidates have proved targets for local gangs. only last month one was shot dead. and in the morning of our interview, they killed off a campaign stop in a nearby town after being warned of a planned ambush. instead, he used the time to greet supporters in his home village, who applaud him to keep his word and not end up like the politicians he has been fighting against. >> al jazeera, michoacan.

>> india's prime minister narendra modi has signed a land agreement with his bangladeshi counterpart. it allows tens of thousands of people living on the border to choose their nationality. they've been effectively living stateless for decades. >> new york's rockefeller center is known for its art deco build high-end stores and giant christmas tree. but a new sculpture is giving passersby something else to look at. the artist behind it is thomas, he explains what he tried to achieve in his own words. >> hello, my name is thomas, i'm originally from england but i'm based in los angeles. i'm a skull sculptor. this started to coalesce, and i

knew that the eyes would give some view of the city. but for me that's been the real pleasure. it's been interesting about the pentagon. it's a structure but it's not even. it's always, you know, you always have one of the masks being in the plane of the other. they're always reacting to each other. by doing a pentagram it opened up the space. i think this is really important component of life. you know, and this gives you the opportunity to remain address the public with this. it's not selling you on anything. it's not a billboard. it's not trying to show a lifestyle you're meant to have. the first visit was a group of skill children who just ran in. that was super moving, beautiful. these kids just intrinsically understood it. and they wanting to one of the main masks for the future. that could not an better--that's

like a blessing. >> you can get much more on those stories if you head over to our website. the address there www.aljazeera.com. you can see our front page with the lead story we're following. following.