taliban fighters raise their flag in the stern of kunduz, as afghan government forces launch a counter offensive to retake the city. ♪ hello there, i'm barbara sarah, you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up on the program. germany cracks down on refugees pretending to be syrian to get asylum, we have a special report. ports closed and flights canceled and a typhoon hits the southeastern coast of china. plus new zealand creates a huge

marine reserve in the south pacific. ♪ hello there. thank you for joining us. afghan forces backed by u.s. air support have launched a counter offensive to recapture the northernty of kandos. >> reporter: taliban fighters are now in charge of large parts of condition do you see city. the afghan government has announced a major military operation to recapture the city. >> translator: in the first place we should take care of the civilian casualties. we have already paid attention and will continue. the enemy has conceded heavy

damages. i don't want to go into the detail of the operations. >> reporter: special forces have been brought in and the u.s. military confirmed an air strike on the outskirts of the city on tuesday morning. it has proven difficult to reach the area, because the taliban has set up booby traps along the way. taliban gunmen broke open the prison, releasing hundreds of inmates most of them former taliban fighters. taliban forces have issued a statement telling residents not to worry about to go about their daily lives. that will be difficult it is one of the most significant gains taliban fighters has made since 2001. it coincides we the first anniversary of the president, and a counter terrorism

operation remains, but this recent move is the boldest in a long cam campaign by the taliban. 14 years after being deposed and battling forces, the taliban can still take control of a major city in less than 24 hours. stephanie decker, al jazeera. al jazeera's correspondent is traveling with the afghan army and sent this report about 100 kilometers south of the city. >> reporter: hundreds of afghan security forces with hundreds of armored vehicles, heavy machine guns are trying this morning to advance towards the city, but they are facing big difficulties not only taliban ambush, but also ie d roadblocks.

they are waiting here to see what will be next. afghan commanders in the field here telling me that they are missing -- they are missing a lack of communication and a lack of leadership. there are many units from different security forces. we talked with couple of people in kunduz city. they are living now under taliban. they are telling us today taliban used a loud speaker and announced normal identity to the people in kunduz city, telling them continue with your normal life and open your shops, because they are promising people that they are not going that quick. but afghan security forces have been promising since early this morning that they will retake kunduz city today. but we are seeing a strong resistance from taliban, not only in kunduz city, even along

the road, these reinforcement forces that before they get close to kunduz city, like 45 kilometers, they are facing resistance by taliban from other province. take you straight to the u.n. general assembly now and listen to petro poroshenko, the ukraine president. >> -- i wish you every success in your activity in this crucial historic moment. our future will largely depend on the outcomes of this session, and our collective decision whether we will choose to follow the path of peace, security, human rights, or we'll plunge into the turmoil of more wars and suffering. mr. dear president, at the moment of the organization anniversary, i am proud to speak

on behalf of one of the u.n.-founded members, the state which back in 1945, took active part in the conference contributed to the establishment of the organization and laid down the foundation of this activity. the state, which added a lot in san francisco to shape the heart of u.n. charters, its purposes and principles. regr regrettab regrettably, i am now speaking on behalf of u.n. member states which is suffering from the brutal violation of the principles of the united nations charter. the statement on ukraine joining the united nations, as one of the founding members emphasized,

i quote, ukraine has repeatedly been the subject of bloody invasion by the aggressor that have sought to capture its territory. end of quote. it has been a long time since that landmark event. but today, i have to recall that my country has become the object of the external aggression. this time aggressor is the russian federation. neighboring country, former strategic partner that legally pledged to respect the territ y territorial integrity and security of the border of ukraine. this country used to be a guarantor of security under the budapest memorandum, where securities were provided to my

country in exchange for the voluntary of the [ inaudible ] of the world third nuclear arsenal. moreover, this state is a permanent member of the united nations security council which is entrusted by the u.n. charter with maintaining international peace and security. in february 2014, russia conducted open and unprovoked aggression against my country, having occupied and annexed the crimea. bluntly and brutally violating the international law. shocking the whole world community. and i am deeply grateful to the delegation of the majority of our organization member states, that the last year supported the resolution of the united nations general assembly entitled territorial integrity of

ukraine, which condemned the russian illegal annexation of crimea. it is regrettable that after this clear verdict of the international community, russia did not return to the civilized international legal field. moreover, moscow started a new military reckless game. this time in ukraine [ inaudible ] region. despite the fact that until now russia refused to officially admit its direct military invasion, today there is no doubt that this is an aggressive war against my country, against ukraine. to mislead the world community, russian leadership orders to take of insignias of its military servicemen and identification mark of its military equipment, to abandon its soldiers captured on the battlefield and cynically used mobile crematorium to eliminate

its evidence of engagement. and it's neither a civil war, nor internal conflict. the region constitutes approximately 44,000 kilometers. million of ukrainians have found themselves under the occupation, the goal of the war is to force the people to give us its sovereign choice and build free, democratic, prosperous, and european states. all of this takes place against the backdrop of the [ inaudible ] rhetoric about brotherly people, common history, related language, and predestined common future. in fact we are dealing here with a desire to return to the

imperial times with the influence, desperate attempt to obtain self affirmation at other's expense. for over the 20 months russia's aggression against my country has been continued through the financing of terrorists and mercenaries, and supply of arms and military equipment to illegal armed groups in the area. we have had a conciliatory statement from the russia side in which in particular it called for the establishment of the anti-terrorist coalition over the fire danger to [ inaudible ] with the terrorists. cool story, but really, hard to believe. [ applause ] >> how can you urge an anti terrorist coalition if you

inspire terrorism right in front your own door? how can you talk about the peace and legitimacy if your policy is war via [ inaudible ] governance. [ applause ] >> how can you speak for freedom for nation if you punish your neighbor for this choice? how can you demand respect for all, if you don't have respect for anyone? the gospel of john teach us in the beginning was the word. but what kind of the gospel do you bring to the world if all of your words are double tongued like that? back to the situation in dombas, i have to say that here we are forced to fight proper fully armed regular troops of armed forces of the russian

federation, heavy weaponry and military equipment are concentrated in such quantities that armies of the majority of u.n. member states can only dream about. these are in particular the state of [ inaudible ] of military equipment of russian production which are unlikely, according to the well-known assumption of the russian president might be purchased in an ordinary army store, unless of course such a wholesale store with free shipping from the russian federation. more than 8,000 ukrainians of whom about 6,000 civilians died at the hand of the russian-backed terrorists, and occupiers in ukraine. more than 1.5 million residents of dumbas were forced to flee their home, and become

internally displaced person [ inaudible ] other safer reupon of ukraine. and i would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the international community for the considerable effort in providing necessary assistance to the people in need. at the same time, i call upon the united nations and the other international actors to continue to pay special attention to this very important issue. i would like to draw your attention that is not the first time with the permanent member of the united nations have is undermining peace, security, in both regional and international level. for over 24 years, they have passed questionable procedure of transfer, the permanent security council membership of the former soviet union to the russian

federation. it is not only the [ inaudible ] war that russia has unleashed? fact in order to preserve influence in neighboring countries, russia has deliberately created around itself the belt of instability. [ -- [ inaudible ] crimea, and dumbas. but these days the russian [ inaudible ] on [ inaudible ]. what and who is next? dear mr. president, in every democratic country, if someone stole your property, the independent court would restore the justice in order to protect rights and punish the offender.

however, we must recognize that in the 21st century, our organization lead an effective instrument to bring their aggressive country to justice, which has stolen the territory of another sovereign state. 70 years ago, the creator of the united nations charter have envisioned the mechanism of the u.n. security council sanctioned to be one of their restraining tools applied in response to the breaches and act of aggression. however, they couldn't even imagine that this tool would be needed against the aggressor state that is a permanent member of the united nations security council. since the beginning of their aggression, russia used its veto right twice, while the undersecurity council was considering questions related to ukraine. at the outset, russia blocked

and dropped a resolution condemning the fake referendum of the annexation of crimea in march 2013. they say it was a vote in on the enunciation of this fake referendum. it was just russian soldiers surrounded the parliament of crimea. the second time russia puts its shameful veto on the draft of the resolution on establishment of the international tribunal, to bring to justice all responsibler of the malaysian airplane crash. by imposing this veto, russia clearly demonstrated that the whole world it defines in establishing the truth. not just the truth about the

perpetrators of these terroristic attacks, and the arms used to shoot down that plane, but it is the truth about those who organized this crime, and from which country the arms had been transported. i think everyone in this hall clearly understands the real motives of russia's veto on the mh-17 tribunal. and the establishment of the international peace-keeping operation, which could lead to the stabilization in ukraine has been blocked because of the threat of russia's veto. abuse of the veto right, its uses as a license to kill, is absolutely unacceptable. [ applause ]

>> collective voice of power organization should be absolutely clear, ukraine stands for the [ inaudible ] limitation of the veto right, with this further consolation, veto power should not become an act of grace and pardon for the crime, which could be used any time and put off from the sleeve in order to avoid fair punishment. in this concept, i welcome the initiative of my french colleague and president, president hollande, supported by president [ inaudible ] of mexico, on the political decoration to restrain from veto rights amongst p-5 members. primary attention should be given to the modernization of the u.n. security council, encolluding enlargement of its membership and improvement of its matter of work.

the membership of the u.n. security council should reflect the realities of the 21st century, by representing the large [ inaudible ] of latin america, asian, and [ inaudible ] seats. additional seats should be given to the eastern european group. its composition doubled during the last two decades. ukraine also considers improvement of the peace keeping and peace building architecture of the organization as an important element of united nations reform, and i am proud of ukraine's international reputation as a devoter to the peace keeping operation. and will remain a reliable partner of organization in this noble matter. [ applause ] >> the contribution of ukraine to the maintenance of the

international peace and security provide us with moral grounds to count on the same assistance from the organization in time of vital importance of this issue for my country. the special peace-keeping mission in dumbas, under the united nations could become very important. ukraine is committed to follow the letter and the spirit of the minsk deal. we demand the same approach from other signatories that later resorted it to the language of blackmail. otherwise there is no alternative to sanction or strengthen. as well as there is no alternativetive to the peaceful resolution of the crisis. full access of the monitored to the occupied territory, withdrawal of the russian military forces, military equipment, as well as the

mercenaries from the territory of ukraine, restoration, full control by ukraine over the state border with russia must be secured. freedom, peace, respect for the sovereignty and integrity. ukraine doesn't behand more. however, it will not settle for less. [ applause ] >> dear mr. president unfortunately not my own free will today ukraine is on -- as one of the areas to fight against terrorist threat. we strongly condemn terrorism in all its form and manifestation. the activity of isil, al-qaeda, boko haram, al-shabab, the others, is a global challenge. the possible way to address it

is to unite in non-copromiezed fight. state and non-state actor have become interlinked, the struggle for one's right is substituted for the ruthless terror. we are convinced that the need for the universal international instrument able to counter act this crime is not only urgent, but long overdue. for this reason the conclusion of the draft on the united nations intervention, should become one of the top priority for this 70th session. a special role in the fight against international terrorism should be given to the international court for justice,

and the international criminal court. making the jurisdiction of this institution universal is the core element of the overcoming impugner of actual violation as well as their partners, the regime who's national policy has become the mass production of terror. [ applause ] >> and i strongly believe that one of the most important aspects, fighting against terrorism is keeping and sharing the memory of the victims, and in this context i propose that the 70th session of the general assembly, consider the establishment of the international day of the commemoration of the memory of the victims of the terrorist act. my president -- mr. president, it was my feeling that humiliation, disregard of the people's will, and the violation -- their fundamental

rights has prompted ukrainians to leave their homes in 1913 -- in 2013, which was the beginning of our revolution of dignity. ukraine has made and continues to pay an extremely high price for its freedom and the right to live in a free country, the price of the human lives. this is why the interest of every single individual, and the protection of the people's rights laid in the foundation of my large-scale-reform program launched a year ago, for the first time in 24 years of its independence, ukraine adopted the national human rights strategy. it takes into account the best international practice from the human rights perspective, including the european union strategic framework on human rights and democracy. russian aggression exposed the problem of securing human rights

in crimea, and the region. leading international human rights organizations have alerted by the radical deterioration of human rights situations, would directly apply to ukraine. to enlist forcefully into russian sit sinship, as well as to the systemic persecution, arrest, abduction and killing of ukrainian residence in the peninsula. ukraine reaffirms its commitment to the u.n. declaration to the right of indigenous people. we will continue to defend the rights of the crimea tatar, the indigenous people of ukraine, and the ukrainians suffering from the repressive policy of the occupation authority in the crimea. and i believe the problem of

blatant violations of human rights in crimea deserves particular consideration within the u.n. general assembly, and i hope that the decision to address this issue will be taken during the current session. i also feel obliged to mention the name of [ inaudible ] alexander [ inaudible ] and many other ukrainians political prisoners of the kremlin. for example, a respected filmmaker was sentenced for 23 years in prison, only for being ukrainian. and i call upon the united nations and its member states to launch a word wide campaign to pressure on russian authorities to immediately release all ukrainian citizens which they hold hostage. we will be able to achieve our goal only if our action will be global. most of all, ukraine needs

solidarity and assistance, which is really a powerful instrument against aggression and injustice. >> we have been listening to the ukrainian president, petro poroshenko as he addressed "the nation" general assembly. ukraine, of course has been the scene of the -- of a conflict on the eastern border for years now, and in many ways one of the root causes of the increased tensions we have seen between the west and russia. james bays was also listening to that speech. saying the international community had given his countries guaranties, and that's why they gave up their nuclear weapons, and now wants the international community to make good on those promises. >> reporter: absolutely,

barbara, and i think he has come here to try to put his countries situation back on the map. we do report on ukraine clearly here on al jazeera, but in terms of what is going on in the world, it is slipping down from the top headlines, and there is a feeling, i think, that, perhaps, the -- the russians have gained what the west said they wouldn't let them gain. they have control ever since march last year of crimea. there doesn't seem to be any effort to try to retake crimea by anyone. in that effectively is now russian territory, and everyone said there should not be a frozen conflict, yet, that really is what there is. there's an ongoing conflict taking place in eastern ukraine. and the sweden prime minister said we can't let that happen. we have got to keep talking

about this. and that i think is what president poroshenko is trying to do as well, get his country mentioned here in this one chance every year to express his view of the state of the world and the state of his region. a lot of criticism of russia, its role on the u.n. security council. backdrop worth remembering that ukraine is a candidate to be on the u.n. security council, and it looks likely that it will be unopposed, so next year, you could see, as well as russia, and the other permanent members, among the non-permanent members, you could see ukraine there. i think that is going to lead to some somewhat fiery scenes, because he was particularly angered about that idea to set up an international tribunal to investigate the downing of mh-17. russia used its security council veto, and use it as well on a