♪ at least 27 people killed in a large explosion on the turkey/syria border. ♪ you're watching al jazeera live from headquarters in doha, and also on the program u.s. air strikes kill several afghan soldiers, it appears to be an accidental attack on checkpoints. the u.s. defense secretary is in israel to bolster security ties and calm fears over the iran nuclear deal and beaten by guards and herded like cattle and desperate to begin a new

life in europe. ♪ at least 27 people have been killed in a large explosion in turkey. that is according to the interior ministry around 100 others have been wounded and it happened at a cultural center north of the border with syria. just a warning the pictures we are about to show you are about the aftermath and they are graphic. it's not yet known what caused that blast but according to witnesses, the attack targeted kurdish volunteers coming from istanbul and going to kobani and home to a refugee camp housing 35,000 refugees fleeing the war across the border. other news in u.s. forces in afghanistan investigating what appears to be mistake end attack and killed six soldiers and

others injuries and they say u.s. helicopters attacked afghan forces in the district in an area known for heavy taliban presence and jennifer glasse has this update from kabul. >> reporter: that incident in the province happened a couple hours after dawn early morning and police authorities tell us that it was american, u.s. helicopters that carried out an attack on two afghan army checkpoints. obviously some sort of mistake, maybe some sort of communication area and it's heavy fighting there and taliban has large presence there and used to transit through and understand after this attack by u.s. forces on afghan forces mistakenly americans say they are investigating that right after this happened the taliban launched a ground offensive in the same area. it is a very heavy fighting area. this of course is the first

friendly fire incident since nato forces gave control to afghan forces at the beginning of the year and the worst friendly fire incident and struggling against resurgents and in areas around the country. founder of afghanistan center for research and policies and says this could society back the relationship between afghanistan and the u.s. these kind of mistakes have happened in the past. if we remember the past several years the u.s. military bombed not only mistakenly afghan forces but also some of the coalition partners in afghanistan. and, again, today it's a reminder that the communication between the afghan security forces and american forces are not adequate and these kinds of mistakes can continue if they don't take proper measures. this is the time for the national unity government because they have been under heavy political pressure in the

past several months because of the insurgent attacks in many many provinces in afghanistan because of the economic recession and now the afghan government has to explain this to the afghan people and to the families of the afghan soldiers because the military is not in good shape right now because a few days and a couple of weeks ago the afghan minister failed to gain this in the afghan parliament so we are ten months after the coalition, the first integration of the new president still doesn't have defense minister and afghan security forces have been having difficult months because of the summer associated by the taliban and because of so many other issues. this is very bad time for afghan securities, on one hand afghan security forces demanding support from the u.s. military and on the other hand these kinds of mistakes under mine

this kind of cooperation. ashton carter met with counterpart in tel aviv and thanked the continued contribution to the military and tone tensions last week between the military and powers and does not expect to drop opposition to agreement and instead he is hoping to deepen military ties and speaking to us from west jerusalem and we are hearing reports that the u.s. is considering an extensive military package for israel after the iranian nuclear deal. what do we know about that? >> reporter: we don't know much at this stage. of course we do know that the u.s. already provides israel with around $3 billion worth of military assistance every single year and we are also hearing that in light of israel's opposition and indeed deep

concerns about this iran nuclear agreement that the united states will try to come up with some sort of package or additional package on top of what it already gives israel to try to smooth the situation over a bit. but what is interesting is that the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has criticized the suggestion that the u.s. will provide israel with more funding when it comes to its own defense in light of this deal between iran and the u.s. and a number of other countries saying that if this iran deal was a, quote, good deal as mr. obama has put it why would israel need more money from the u.s. from its own safety and defense. so the israelis are still very upset about this deal and certainly straining ties with the u.s. and so as mr. carter has been saying he doesn't think that he can change opinion here in israel about this deal that has been inked with iran but trying to smooth ties over and as we have been saying many are suggesting that will come in the

form of military aid or money. >> what about being taken to other countries on agenda as well after he visits with netanyahu going to saudi arabia and jordan for example? >> reporter: that's right, the concern about this deal that has been reached with iran isn't just that it's an israeli concern even though mr. netanyahu has been vocal and public critic with iran and other powers including china, russia and other european nations and although they have not been as vocal privately they have been very critical of the deal to the u.s. let's start with jordan jordan of course is deeply concerned about iran's role in neighboring syria and in neighboring iraq and involved in a coalition against i.s.i.l. so it is stretched militarily and of course it certainly has concerns if other groups getting power in other countries that could be a

problem too but saudi arabia are the concerns that the u.s. are most concerned about, saudi arabia is a major ally of the united states, the u.s. has a large military presence in the middle east due to saudi arabia and influence in the gulf region as well and the u.s. is attune to what the saudis' concerns are. the saudis want to be the most powerful player in that part of the world, in the middle east. and iran has shown in resent years that it has tried to exert its own influence in places like syria, lebanon, iraq and the like and so saudi arabia certainly wants to put those concerns to the u.s. and it would appear that mr. carter will at least at the very least rather i would say try to convince the saudis that there will be some sort of military involvement from the u.s. if iran tries to push the proverbal envelope. >> reporting from west jerusalem thank you. urging iran to improve relations

with israel if it wants to strengthen ties with the west and on a three-day visit to tehran and the first to visit since last week's nuclear deal and saying the deal won't prevent the development of nuclear weapons. banks reopened in greece for the first time in three weeks but it's not business as usual. bank customers are no longer limited to 60 euros a day and able to withdrawal up to 420 euros a week but they are not able to cash checks only deposit them and people will not be able to transfer cash abroad with their credit or cash cards, only make purchases. the athens stock market is still closed until further knots and vat has risen, making a cup of coffee or even a bus ride more expensive and we are at a bank in athens and sent this report. >> reporter: with banks having finally opened in groups after three weeks of being closed here in downtown athens crowds we

have seen have been small, lines have so far been short and yet a sense of relief, a population that is glad the banks are finally reopened and they can finally go back to their banks, that they can pay bills from within their banks, that some people can get atm cards they didn't have before so they can access money in a more easy fashion. now one of the things we have heard today is there has been a real sense of concern here in greece the past few weeks that certain people didn't have access to their bank safety deposit boxes. there was a fear that perhaps the contents of those safety deposit boxes might be taken or seized, that people couldn't have access to them again and that is one of the things we have heard from people and checking to see the contents of safety deposit boxes are still there and safe and some people will take the contents of boxes back home with them that is how much distrust there is in greece of the financial institutions and yet as i said before at this

hour a sense of calm. we are not seeing really any consternation from the people who gathered outside the banks and it has been orderly and people have gone in the banks and as of now everything seems calm. greece is also the mainlanding point in europe for migrants crossing in the balkins from turkey and may from war-ravaged parts of the world and hoping to reach northern europe on foot and we have this report on greece's border with macedonia. >> reporter: they are marching by the hundreds under the baking sun, on the roads and in the fields. step by step until they reach the macedonia border and go along and form groups that become bigger and bigger. >> translator: i didn't expect it to be so difficult but now i have to go on. i left everything behind. i'm doing this for my daughter.

>> reporter: greece in the midst of its own financial crisis has no means to provide assistance so refugees and migrants rely on each other for support and solidarity. the last stretch is along the rail tracks and it's where the difficulties begin. hundreds are already waiting in this makeshift camp with no hygiene facilities and one tap of running water. macedonia police patrol the border and are often heavy handed. he is 63 and traveling alone. he was beaten when he tried to sneak across the border. he had been waiting for four days. >> translator: my son needs treatment. i'm doing this so he can join me. >> reporter: recently macedonia has allowed refugees and migrants to transit through the country for three days. but they have to wait until they are allowed in.

so throughout the night more people have arrived and some have already left. they are organizing themselves in groups hoping that at some point the macedonia police will let them through. there are many afghans, some aratrian and egyptians and iraqis but most are syrians people like this man who left their families behind. >> translator: we have been here for 14 or 15 hours. we slept on the ground. there is no water. my cloths are dirty. i used to have a good life but look at me now. it has been a month and a half and i'm sleeping on the streets. sometimes people come and help us or at least smile at us it makes us feel like human beings. >> translator: i was afraid to bring my family here. i didn't want to put them at risk. nobody knows what is ahead and we hear about bandits and gangs and could go through it alone but won't let anything happen to my children. >> reporter: one after the other the groups are allowed into macedonia.

but here starts a new struggle to get a transit permit. and then their journeys continue through serbia and hungry before they hope reaching germany or further north, al jazeera, greek, macedonia border. still to come on al jazeera we hear from a boy who spent five grueling months in an i.s.i.l. training camp before he eventually escaped. havana and washington about to reopen their respective embassys and cuba finds it hard to overcome after years. ♪

>> government committees. >> they're spending money, they're not saving it. >> costing millions and getting nothing. >> it's a bogus sham. >> america tonight investigates. money for nothing. >> they've gotten away with it for years.

♪ the top stories on al jazeera, a large explosion in southern turkey near the syrian border killed 27 people and injured 100, turkish interior ministry says it was a shaktar terrorist attack and heading to the town of kobani under siege of fighters. forces in afghanistan are investigating a mistaken attack which killed seven soldiers and a taliban stronghold said helicopters attacked army checkpoints. ashton carter is in israel to talk about agreements with iran and israeli prime minister says the deal won't prevent iran from building nuclear weapons. syrian activists say i.s.i.l. banned private internet activist

and forced residents and even its own fighters to use internet cafes where they can be monitored and warning internet providers to cut private connections within four days. when i.s.i.l. fighters in the towns in northern iraq last year killed men and enslaved many women and girls but the boys were treated differently. i.s.i.l. fighters forced them to force to islam and trained them to fight and kill and victoria has one boy's story. >> reporter: this is an i.s.i.l. training camp where children are shown how to use weapons and are given religious education. this boy who doesn't want to be identified was taken to a camp like this after i.s.i.l. fighters took over his town in northern iraq. >> translator: told us how to de decapitate people and played

with their minds saying we wouldn't go back to our families in iraq. >> reporter: in june last year tens of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes in northern iraq after their towns were seized by i.s.i.l. fighters and some survived what the u.n. calls attempted genocide by escaping to singar mountain and thousands of others captured and the men were killed and women and traffic were trafficked as sex slaves or in prison and some boys were forced to convert to islam and sent to i.s.i.l. training camps. >> translator: once they showed us the be heading video of the pilot pilots and videos of attacks and saw how they were shooting and brought it to us every week and showed us. >> reporter: this boy sent to a camp in the city of raqaa a stronghold and told to practice be headings on dolls. >> translator: they brought dolls and they told us how to

hold the sword and how to chop off the head because they said these people are not good. >> reporter: after five months at the camp he escaped along with his brother but they say many others are still there, victims of this seemingly never ending conflict. victoria with al jazeera. a ship has reportedly been sunk off the coast of libya. airforce commanders of tibrook government says two ships were attacked because they were care carrying fighters and weapons. four italian construction workers kidnapped west of the country and security source they were taken to a place under control of the groups and say they were abducted near a compound by an oil and gas company in the region. the former president of chad is on trial in sinagal and the first time prosecuted by another

african country. and accused of crimes against humanity and torture, one of his alleged victims says in speaking to our correspondent nicholas hawk in the capitol dakar. >> reporter: he has been waiting 25 years for this day. he is about to face the man he believes is responsible for his torture. he has rehearsed the moment time and time again and he knows exactly what he will say and how he will act. >> one look at former chad president and the memories come flooding back. electric shocks the choking, and all the faces of people he was forced to bury during his four-year confinement under his rule. >> translator: his plan is for

an entire nation for eight long years into desperation and violent darkness. >> reporter: chad's truth commission says 40,000 people were killed and 200,000 tortured when he was this power in the 1980s and most were chad arabs and political opponents. the united states and france supplied supported him even when he turned it into a place police state and got training in the united states. >> reporter: over thrown in 1990 and fled the country, for 16 years victims of torture and campaigners tried to bring him to court while he lived quietly in sinagal. his wife never suspected he would face justice. >> translator: we had an implicit agreement and came here for asylum, protection from the state of sinagal and they turned

against us and we feel betrayed. >> reporter: now being charged of crimes of humanity in african chambers and the court specifically created by the african union and sinagal and hundreds of witnesses are expected to testify including this person an african judged by africans and away from the hague international criminal court and at stake here is the possibility to set a precedent making universal justice acceptable to all on this continent. >> i think what this trial shows more than anything else is that it's possible for victims and their supporters with tenacity and perseverance and with imagination to actually get a dictator to court. >> reporter: the trial will not erase the horror but something has changed and perhaps in the

process he may find some peace. nicholas hawk al jazeera, dakar. the nigerian president is on his way to the white house with the fight against boko haram and corruption high on the agenda. so what else are nigerians hoping will come out of the meeting with barack obama? we have that story from abuja. >> husband and brother were killed by boko haram in the borno state a couple years ago and she fled with her six children and two grandchildren here to this camp for the displaced in abuja and says she is happy nigerian's president is traveling to the united states to meet president obama to discuss how to defeat boko haram fighters. >> we want them to give us peace peace.

i tell you first, we are just working upside down. no food no work nothing, nothing. >> reporter: bo and bahair will discuss how to help a million people displaced by boko haram and first many of the areas destroyed by the armed group will have to be rebuilt before people can think of going home. during the presidential campaign earlier this year bohair promised to defeat boko haram if elected president but since leader there have been attacks and he is expected to ask obama for help. >> he is actually going with a wish list a shopping list that he will present to the american president to help nigerians and not in the area of deploying troops or things like that but intelligence and equipment and other kind of help. >> reporter: some believe the u.s. is in a difficult position when it comes to military aid to

nigeria. it is legally barred by its law providing assistance to forces it believes violates human rights and it rejected such allegations and u.s. embassy in abuja provides meaningful assistance and some are critical because president bohair have not chosen ministers. >> huge gaps getting it started and you would expect that a visit of this nature would indeed comprise a lot of issues relevant and government officials are accompanying on the visit. >> reporter: there is a feeling of other important issues including the fight against corruption, the falling price of oil and power shortages may not be properly addressed at the meeting but for the many displaced by boko haram likely are to her and her family improving security should be the

number one issue at the meeting and say without it nigeria cannot develop or move forward. al jazeera abuja. >> for the first time in more than half a century cuba and the u.s. are reopening their embassys in each other's capitols and latin america editor has been finding out how cubans think of dramatic changes now underway. >> reporter: these fortified walls were built when cuba was still a spanish colony a testament to a country that was born feeling under siege. in the 1700s it was from europeans and pirate attacks and in more recent times from the united states. she remembers all too welcoming here with her students to help build this bomb shelter, one of hundreds constructed in havana in the last 20 years. >> translator: the same way they bombed iran and iraq we felt we had to protect ourselves from attacks from the united

states. >> reporter: that's why the renewal of diplomatic relations with the enemy as generations of cubans have seen the united states is a long-awaited game changer. >> it's a way of bringing us a little bit closer together after being separated so long. every cuban has a friends or relative living in the united states so what is happening now makes us feel very happy so that we will never have to resort to this again.ric terms it was only yesterday that deployment of soviet missiles in cuba at the height of the cold war brought the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust. this was built in the 60s and what is left of a look out coast used by cuba's coast guard and stand watch night and day in case there is invasion of the united states by sea, now the only thing you see are people looking towards the united states but they are just simply fishing. this week's renewal of

diplomatic relations does not erase political differences but psychologically it's as though a curtain is being lifted for most cubans. >> translator: geographically we are so close that probably there is no latin american country better the prepared to be one day be real brothers you will see. >> reporter: for getting 50 years of hostilities is not so easy especially for people like this man the 79-year-old president of her neighborhood cdr or committee for the defense of the revolution says that she doesn't trust the americans. >> translator: to begin with they have not lifted the embargo against cuba nor returned guantanamo to us and we are renewing ties with civilized people. >> reporter: turning this building into a u.s. embassy does not mean they have a friend across the florida straits but it does mean it no longer has an

enemy. al jazeera havana. you can read much more about the restoration of diplomatic ties between cuba and the u.s. on our website, al jazeera.com, there you will find all the day's other top stories, everything we are covering at al jazeera.com. >> a new era in the relationship between the u.s. and cuba, after more than half a century embassies reopen in havana and in washington, d.c. >> new details about the problems the chattanooga gunman suffered as the community mourns his victims. >> defense secretary ash carter goes to israel trying to calm fears over the nuclear deal with iran.