>> taliban threat. >> i'm not sure it reflects any new assessment of the taliban at this point. but it does highlight the ongoing challenge that the afghan security forces are taking on every single day u.s. airpower called into action after the taliban routes afghan force and takes over one of afghanistan's largest cities. terror summit. >> like terrorists throughout the history i.s.i.l. will lose, because it has nothing to offer

but suffering and death. >> president obama gathers more than 100 nations to discuss defeating i.s.i.l. a congressional report slams the u.s. for failing to stop americans joining i.s.i.l. vladimir putin's true intentions. >> those intentions are not secret. it is spelled out in russian doctrine. >> georgia's president joins us to talk about russia's aggression and what the international community should do about it. >> ocean sanctuary. >> millions of dolphins, whales, turtles and fish and marine life will be safe. new zealand applauded for creating a huge marine reserve

good evening, i'm antonio mora, this is al jazeera america. we begin with newest air strikes in afghanistan. the pentagon says the strikes are not in support of afghan forces as they fight to retake the fallen city of kunduz. the u.s. says the strikes are in support of coalition forces on the ground. the white house condemned monday's taliban takeover of the strategic city. the afghan military struggled to launch attacks in the city because major roadblocks have been blocked by the taliban. >> in a news conference, president afghashraf ghani trie assure that his troops would retake the city. stephanie dekker has more on the battle for one of afghanistan's

largest and wealthiest cities. there are no government troops left here. taliban fighter are in control of large parts of kunduz city. here they are raising their flag in the city square. this battle is not over. the afghan government announced a major military operation to recapture kunduz. >> in the first place we should take care of civilian casualties. we have paid attention, and we will continue. i don't want to go into the detail of the operation. >> 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 is difficult for some reinforcements to reach kunduz because the taliban set up booby traps. as part of a takeover on monday, the gunmen broke open the prison, releasing inmates, most

taliban fighters. commanders issued a statement telling residents not to worry, and to go about their daily lives. it will be difficult with a major operation unt way. it's a significant territorial gain since 2001, went the government was deposed by the u.s.-led invasion. it coincides with ashraf ghani's first anniversary as president, and the first year the afghan forces are facing the taliban alone after the u.s. and n.a.t.o. troops pulled out. >> a counterterrorism remains, but this move is the boldest in a long campaign by the taliban to take control of the country. a strong message that 14 years after being deposed and battling forces, the taliban can take control of a major city in less than 14 hours. >> kunduz is one of afghanistan's largest city and a key strategic location,

considered the gateway to central asia. the u.s. launched strikes against the city. >> jamie mcintyre joins us from the pentagon with more. >> just within the past hour, the pentagon revealed that there has been a series of additional strikes at the airport just outside kunduz. that's where u.s. troops were on the ground. the strikes were to protect the troops, and they were not combat troops, they are advisors, advising the afghan military on how to retake the city. the pentagon says that the afghan government amassed a force of thousands of troops, and is confident that kund us will return to afghan control. >> reporter: unlike in iraq where the u.s. is providing close air sport, afghan security forces are on their own, and have been for nine months, when the taliban fighters overran the

city, there was no u.s. air power to back the assault. the pentagon insists that it is working closely with afghanistan to make sure it has what it needs to defeat the taliban. >> obviously this is a setback for the african security forces. but we have seen them respond in recent weeks, and month, to the challenges they faced, and they are doing the same thing in kund use right now. >> in an echo of what happened in ramadi, iraq in april, where u.s. trained iraqi troops were rude by a smaller i.s.i.l. force, initial reports indicate that a relatively few taliban fight fighters, in the hundreds. overwhelmed troops reported to be in the thousands. a local told the "new york times" there was a lack of litre sh. >> in a televised address, they linked the inability to hold konduz to the need to lining deaths.

>> the government is responsible and will not bomb citizens. ghani ordered the special forces troops to prepare an financialsive. u.s. military advisor are assisting with the plan, distrib it assist deliberate rate. with the end of an n.a.t.o. mission at the close of last year. 10,000 or so troops are not supposed to be involved in front line fighting, with the exception of a small american counterterrorism force authorised to counter individuals. chairman john mccain was quick to blame the fall of kunduz on the president's decision to pull out those forces. in a statement he said: the battle for kund use has

high takes on all sides, and is a crucial test for the president who has been in office for a year, but is a test of the new taliban leader, mansour, who told his fighters in conduce to street citizens with respect in an effort to win them over. of course, the united states is waiting to see whether all the time they have spent training afghan forces will result in a capable force that can go back and retake the city. >> a lot of mixed messages from the president about air strikes. >> there may be more air strikes, but they are limited to protecting the u.s. troops on the ground. under rules established the u.s.

can only use air power in three circumstances - protect troops on the ground. d can go after remnants of al qaeda, and the third case is they can use air power in afghan troops are in danger of being overrun. they could have done it yesterday when the troops were ran out of conned use. they distant, because they were concerned that there would be way too many casualties. you won't see offensive air strikes. >> in a few minutes we'll take a closer look at the gain sin sin the withdrawal of troops. i.s.i.l. where are claimed it killed an italian aid worker.

he was shot and killed monday night in the diplomatic corridor of the capital. investigators believe the attack was planned but have not confirmed i.s.i.l.'s claim. the fight took center stage on the sidelines of the general assembly. president obama hosted a counterterrorism summit. saying i.s.i.l. will be tweeted if they work together. not all member nations are on the same page. >> reporter: a special meeting at the u.n. to boost the coalition against i.s.i.l. >> i believe what we have here today is the emergence of a movement that is united by the mission of degrading and ultimately destroying i.s.i.l. >> reporter: but if you listen to the words the president chose, you see the problem, there's not as much progress on the ground as the u.s. would like. >> this is not an easy task.

we have i.s.i.l. taking root. >> reporter: taking root across large swathes of syria in iraq, including the city of raqqa, and mosul in iraq. the iraq prime minister said the government was making progress. in the last year they retook tikrit but lost mardy. all the while foreign fighters have been streaming in. >> my government has recorded down 20,000 names. >> i.s.i.s. success is the reason for success, it's attracting people because it created the state-like entity and the inability of the united states and the coalition to dismantle that state is the biggest deficiency of the strategy. >> lack of progress is not the only problem. there's not unity among the

community. russia's foreign minister didn't take part in the meeting. iran was not invited. on wednesday, the u.n. security council will discuss clar issues in a meeting organized by russia, and the current president of the council. two separate meetings, one central point of disagreement. the russians say everyone should join with president bashar al-assad to fight i.s.i.l. the u.s. says bashar al-assad is part of the problem not the solution. it's that one point hindering the fight against i.s.i.l., and complicating efforts to bring peace to syria. >> a counterterrorism analyst at the institute for the study of war joins us from washington. good to see you. can the international community achieve objectives in fighting i.s.i.l. if russia will not come to an international summit? >> i think the international community can achieve its objectives. it's a matter of what they are,

and whether the united states and its partners can take progressive stones achieve those, before russia implements an end state. >> talking about the objectives, can any strategy be effective against i.s.i.l. can iran, supporting bashar al-assad, how does that happen? >> well, i think that you actually bring up a great point, which is that the syrian war, and the war against i.s.i.s. is bound up together. the problem we see now is the u.s. has been taking an i.s.i.s. only focus, and has reached the point where it needs a whole of syria strategy. i think the problem is it's taken us years to come to this point. and is moving more quickly than we are. >> the whole of syria strategy has gone away. the point of trying to train rebels has been a failure. >> it's been a total failures. it's on pause right now, and i

think we have seen from our military and political leadership acknowledgment that that effort has failed. i don't think it means that it's not one we should pursue. we need to back a moderate division. bashar al-assad has been radicalizing what russia and iran are trying to do, and will exacerbate the conflict in syria. >> president obama talked about how i.s.i.l. needs to be tweeted with better ideas. what are better ideas. how can they drive i.s.i.l. and stop them. >> i think better ideas, as you point out need to be wetted with better military force, and certainly in the long term we need to think not just about i.s.i.s., but violent radical groups that take route in areas across the world because of radical ideology.

i agree you need both. i think that having these conversations about long-term ideological fights are important. we need to recognise that we are being outpaced in the military sector of things. >> some of the leaders agreed with you. the president said terrorist ideologies can't be tweeted on the battlefield. if you look at iraq and muhammadu buhari from nigeria, they have to deal with boko haram. muhammadu buhari said guns alone may not suffice, but can stem the tide. is this a big difference of opinion among the leaders. >> it's a further affection. i.s.i.s. is an organization. because of the terrain that holds. defeating i.s.i.s. requires defending it. it requires a solution to make sure it doesn't take its place. >> i want a final question in. the u.s. spend billions in the

bombing campaign. if you look at those joining i.s.i.l. the big concern is that americans and other westerners who join i.s.i.l. can join and conduct attacks. there's not optimismic reports that come out about that count. we are coming to the recognition, the problem is not one that can be obtained within iraq and syria, it has global communications. it's all our argument to move it quickly. to make sure we are increasing military and involvement in the syria and iraqi theatres. >> always good to have you with us. thank you struggling to find peace in afghanistan. with the taliban circling we'll take a look at the exit of u.n. troops impacting stability, and clashes from jerusalem spreading

throughout the west bang.

the fall of kunduz was said to be a setback for afghan forces and ashraf ghani's government. it's been a year since ashraf ghani took power in afghanistan and vowed to reclaim the strat ijic city from the -- strategic city from the taliban. in our "in context" segment. we look at the transition and challenges. >> al jazeera, based in cab you

will. in addition to the resurgent of the taliban they are dealing with cuts. >> the taliban is fighting all over the county, and african security is taking record casualties. any economy is a mess. main because there was a new president. >> reporter: when ashraf ghani took power a year ago, it was the first peaceful exchange of power. ashraf ghani failed to fight corruption, helping afghanistan on foreign aid. it would be a difficult year ahead. >> if we want a rule of law,

high level officials involved in corruption should be removed to have a transparent judicial system, for those, a committee should be formed to reveal them. one of the big is challenges will be security, as n.a.t.o. ended the combat issue. there was about 12,000 troops, a 10th of what it had. the remaining forces are there to train, advise and assist. they face a resurgent taliban, it launched a spring offensive not in the northern or eastern strongholds, but in the north, in kund use city. the fighters got to the gate of the city. driving thousands. it looks as though the after gan government made a break through. the first talks with the taliban was made in pakistan, with the promise of a second round.

the talks broke down. it emerged mullah omar was dead. not all taliban wanted to follow him. >> the taliban did not stop the violence. pure security weakened the company's fragile economy. afghans are losing confidence in the government. he's having trouble selling his brooms. $0.80 apiece. in the rest of the country challenges are counting.

>> it is that combination. it is the combination of lack of security afghans are fleeing in record numbers, thousands leaving every month, the second largest group of refugees arriving in europe are afghan. jennifer glasse in washington. for more on the situation, we are joined from washington by rosen erg. there was reporting that the c.i.a. made monthly cash drops at the office of karzai. your story is incredible on its own. now we are seeing history repeating itself in afghanistan. the u.s. ends its combat operations nine months ago and the taliban takes over a large city. could afghanistan turn into another iraq?

>> we are not there yet. but this is a big deal. it's caught a lot of people by surprise, both in the u.s. and in afghanistan. there has been a lot of fighting in the area around kunduz, but not into the si. and i talked to someone in the pentagon that said they went there sunday night and everything was fine. monday night they go to bed. they wake up today and now it's under taliban control. it took a lot of people by surprise, and is the first time. that alone. >> where things are headed. >> what you said about the afghan forces. is it a foregone conclusion. after the decision, the administration is wrestling with. i was surprised when talking to people in washington who

normally. to this delaying the inevitable. this is a certain amount of exhaustion and frustration with a situation that never seems to improve. there was a lot of hope that president ghani and his government would be an improvement over karzai. the government does not come close to living up to his name the president does not have the political base. people are frustrated. major initiative. it can bring the taliban to the peace talks. he doesn't have a political

capital. the only problem is who else would take over, whoes is there. hamid karzai is on the wings. does he have the energy to do it. what is the relationship. there's a lot of unknowns. what does this say about taking the taliban strings. it seems to have to strengthen the position. >> it would seem to - yes. it's an institutional weakness, the inability to stand up and fight. we still don't know. the taliban don't seem weaker, that's for sure. >> what you said about the afghan forces. matthew, national security for

the new york sometimes, thanks. >> tough talk from ukraine and petro porashenko. he laid into the russian counterpart when addressing the u.n. general assembly saying vladimir putin is not a man to be trusted. petro porashenko is getting support from the president of georgia, whose country was raided by russia a few years ago, my conversation with him after the break.

welcome back to al jazeera america i'm antonio mora. coming up in this half hour of international news, shark summit is convened to find a solution to the rising threat of attacks off the coast of australia. first a look at making headlines across the u.s. in american minute. port rican officials discuss the economic crisis. arguing that the government bears partial responsibility. the white house says it has no plans for a bail out. puerto rico owns $72 million and defaulted on part of its debt last month last minute appeal to kelly. dissen donor's children say

she's been rehabilitate a trial has been held for the first of six baltimore police officers charged in the death of freddie gray. officer william porter goes on trial, saying he failed to properly secure gray in a police van or provide him with medical assistance. the other officers will stand trial next year negotiators will reach a deal paving the way for weapons? eastern ukraine. you ukraine's president took amount at russia during a speech. john terrett joins us more. petro porashenko had a lot to say. >> good evening, he did. petro porashenko came out swinging no less at the general assembly on tuesday. he called the charter broken,

and accused the the security council are of undermining world piece, and without mentioning him by name left vladimir putin in no doubt as to what he thinks of involvement in the don basket. >> reporter: ukraine's president petro porashenko pent before the united nations gem by and tack -- general assembly and took aim at a security council. this same the aggressor is the russian operation. they lopped is list of reasons. specifically against resolutions and the downing of a malaysian airjoins get in 2014. you rain accuses separatists of

downing the plane. >> they used it as a licence to skill. russian president vladimir putin continues to deny his country is involved in ukraine, while petro porashenko never referred to the leader, he marked vladimir putin's call to an international coalition against terror which he made to his speech on monday. cool story, hard to believe. how can you speak for freedom if you punish your neighbour. how do you demand respect for all, if you don't have respect for anyone. >> the speech came as matters have not been implemented,

including the withdrawal of heavy equipment. 8,000 have died in the conflict. petro porashenko says the number could be higher, accusing russia of covering up casualties in an effort to hide presence in ukraine. >> russia's orders them to take off sickness and identification work of its equipment. to abandon the soldiers captured on the battlefield, and used mobile crematorium to eliminate traces of the crime. >> on wednesday of the u.n., the palestinians raise their flags. and the palestinian president vows to drop a bombshell. others are suggesting it may not amount to so much. we shall see. >> thank you. >> the president of georgia joins me from the council of

foreign relations. good to have you with us. hello. ukranian president says russia wants to return to imperial times. few countries suffer from russian aggression more than georgia has. are you concerned about the consequences if russia is allowed impunity after taking over crimea and its involvement in the eastern ukraine. >> you are right. georgia suffered and is still suffering. suffering an occupation from the site of russian federation. actually in 2008. russian's military army marched into georgian territory and toil and occupied two of our regions, later declared them as independent states. fortunately enough.

those were not supported by the global community. we are thankful to all the counties that support the regions. >> they are still not under georgian control. during the 2008 war, the russians came. >> the suburbs of your capital, and in july they expanded the borders. do you think it's the case? >> unfortunately we see that this is the ways. seesaw it in 2008 in georgia and experienced it in ukraine, where

crimea and south-eastern parts have been occupied. >> those dangerses are not take red. and you should include it. it's spelt out in foreign document policy, talking about russia's neighbours as a backyard. an area of privileged interest zones, where russia leads the right to make decisions and make interventions into the countries. and this is the environment that should be stopped and that should be responded, and where the international community has to find strength to be condemning treat its neighbours with the same standards that the

country treats each other. meaning keeping international relations within the name work of international law. you have a deal but a lot are saying people are becoming disillusions with the united states and e.u. not to become a member of both of those organizations. the choice of my nations. >> it's not the choice of a

nation. >> we have a positive dynamics on both of agendas, whether it's e.u. or n.a.t.o. definitely it's our task to bring it to international tables, it's our task to show and share to friends in n.a.t.o., and e.u., that the georgian case, and its integration into both of those alliances will be beneficial not only for my country but for the global feelings at large. what is the feelings there's

support of becoming part of the support. you blamed that on russian propaganda, is that the case. >> georgia is a society where call voices are allowed to peak including voices that are pro-eurasian. and demands into more integration into the russian sphere of influence. this is a result of democratic process. >> president, it's an honour to have you with us.

thank you. the united states and cuba took a step towards friendly relations, sitting together on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly the second meeting in six months. they discussed efforts to improve the relationship between the two countries, they disusted pope francises visit to the u.s. and cuba. tomorrow we'll look at president mahmoud abbas's speech to the general assembly. the palestinian flag is raised at the united nations james clapper clashed with senators at a hearing on cyber security and expressed doubts with about a deal. >> i think we'll have to watch the behaviours for intelligence

to depict what changes if any result from this. clapper said that the u.s. is facing rising cyber threats from russia, iran and north korea. soldiers behind a short-lived coup in burkina faso laid down the weapons after a stand off with troops. former members of the guard have been holding out at the capital. a spokesperson says 3 huns of the have surrendered. a coup leader has not been found. he is believed to have been hiding in the compound. >> a problem for german officials. some are lying to syrian refugees to make sure they get asylum seekers. volkswagen make a move to refit

11 million cards. the u.s. makes a move towards legal action towards the

car-maker saudi arabia authorities are asking for help in identifying those that died during this year's hajj. police distributed nearly 1100 photos of foreign diplomats. according to saudi officials, it's not just of 169 people killed in a deadly stampede, they include other unidentified

pilgrims that died in the past few weeks, including some of the 111 people killed in a crane collapse at the grand mosque. clashes between israeli soldiers and palestinians broke out across the west bank. palestinian youth threw stones at police, who fired water canons, and rubber bullets. they are angry at the clashes at al-aqsa. israeli police arrested 12 overnight. 11 separate operations were needed to save people off the libyan coast. many were plucked from rubber rafts. half a million crossed into europe by boat. close to 3,000 died along the way. many refugees are coming from syria. more than 180,000 fled the war to enter greece and italy.

>> refugees are really who they say they are. lawrence lee reports. >> reporter: people are riving in groups at the train station, this is the end of a hostile journey. health workers are on hand to check their temperatures, others are checking to see that they are who they say they are. we filmed a group in a slovenian town, moving as fast as they could for austria. among the border this man in the red. >> where are you from? >> from syria. >> reporter: you came here from where, the border with cross-examine asia. -- croatia. >> i come here to go austria and germany. >> at the train station, in a conversation in french, he admitted to me in fact he was a hotel worker.

he knew he had no chance of asylum. the germans don't think he's the only one. anybody who arrives here has to give a speech sample. you have to assume that life could be made more difficult for them. we heard similar things in refugees where translators were on hand at the center. arguments in favour of asking the questions is people who are not in fear of their lives should not be getting in the way of people who are. others say the system should not discriminate. to go on the dangerous and long travel to europe, maybe crossing illegally and in small boats over the mediterranean. and to force yourself, you have

a real reason to flee. so i can't really understand why they shouldn't be refugees. >> reporter: the other point is inside a european union that in many places is hostel, the idea that some are getting through by pretending is likely to harden tutes more. syrians should hardly have to prove that they are really running for their lives al jazeera journalist and employees that work in absentia in egypt made a request to abdul fatah al-sisi to grant them amnesty. they are part of the same case that saw mohamed fadel fahmy and mohammed badr walk free. two work for al jazeera arabic, and al jazeera english at the time of convictions. >> we are grateful for abdul

fatah al-sisi taking an important step in pardoning our colleagues. this is a theme that worried us all. it's fantastic to see them free men. this was, in pardoning these guys, president abdul fatah al-sisi has, i think, acknowledged that there was an error, a mistake that was made here. and he has moved towards redressing that. this is it just a step. what he has to do from here on is to pardon the rest of us as he has promised. what i wanted to say to you is i have formally began that process by writing to president abdul fatah al-sisi, by submitting the application, lodging it into the court. >> three of the group are egyptian, and have been able to return to their home country for here of arrest. they all deny allegations against them volkswagen plans to refit up to 11 million vehicles following the emissions scandal. fixing the vehicles with illegal

software, and it could cost billions. u.s. lawmakers arrived the company to turn over documents related to the scandal. including records dealing with the development of the software. some board members are saying staff members at the company acted criminally. >> a film shoot in france opens old wounds when crews unfurled a nazi banner leading to confusion and anger. a large marine reserve in the world has been designated near new zealand. why some are not happy about it.

a typhoon kills these and injures others in taiwan, more than a million lost power. the typhoon damaged cars and uprooted trees, torrential rain could cause dangerous flooding and blood slides in mexico a series of everyunderstandingses from the val -- eruptions from the vol sano of fire. ash and smoke travelled into the air. these are the latest explosions from the volcano that has been active since july. >> now our global view segment. a look at how news outlets are reacting to different event.

this shows russian president vladimir putin in the left panel saying "i have a", and the par right "plan." the middle portrays him as a devil. >> "the japan times" shows shinzo abe on a steam roller labelleded security bills passage, referencing a vote to allow troops to serve. it has others thinking i can't understand why approval ratings are flat as the steam roller runs over a person wearing a public dissent t-shirt. >> the south african guardian depicts kurt zouma caught in deadlock. in the background a marquee of the daily show with trevor noah, a south african comedian that took over for jon stewart official are preparing to search for a train loaded possibly with nazi goals. they have descended on a town to

sweep for land mines. two men declared they found the tunnel. the officer says it could be booby trapped. >> translation: there could be land mines. if someone has hidden the train here, he could place land mines to scare away soldiers and treasure digger. >> reporter: the train has been a source of folklore, disappearing before the end of world war ii. carrying gold, gems and weapons away from forces. >> a surprise for people in nice, the southern french city neglected to notify people this a movie crew was going to unfurl a nazi flag over a government building. locals and tourists were shocked. it was used as a regional headquarters during world war ii. a large yellow sign went up saying film set and historical reconstruction. >> a so-called shark summit opened in sydney, australia.

o initials want to track shark movements in real time and are looking at cutting edge technologies to do that. world experts are meeting to figure out how to reduce shark attacks. they are considering everything. >> my hope is that there would be a position with new technologies, where it's not having impact on marine a life and that is something i hope comes out. we will not make compromise in relation to keeping the community safe. >> shark attacks spiked along the coast. including 13 in new south wales, compared to three in 2014. >> new zealand plans to turn 240,000 square miles of the south pacific ocean into a marine sanctuary. the area north-east of new zealand includes the second deepest trench in the world.

as gerald tan explains, preservationists are hailing the announcement. >> this is one of the most isolated places on earth. many of them unique, some endangered. >> it's one of the most significant announcements. this is one. last pristine sights in our ocean that is being preserved. it's uninhabited by humans. >> they say that the reserve will encompass 620,000 square kilometres. >> this is in the area twice the size of our land mass, and 50 times the size of our largest national park. it is truly is special place. we want to keep it that way.

the announcement drew attention. >> an hour ago with the united nation, the prime minister of new zealand, john kee, made an announcement that we can all celebrate. mining and fishing is banned. some of the industries are upset. the government says benefits outweigh the cost. >> i'm confident that the majority would say it's a lose economically, but well worthwhile for a global contribution. >> new zealand says the area will be policed using satellite data and patrols. new laws will come in effect next year to protect the region for generations to come we may know and egypt's queen is buried in the same time as kink tutt. archeologists found signs of two chambers behind the painted walls of the 3,000-year-old time. the minister of antiquity will

seek to have radar investigations. one theory is that kink tut-tut was buried in an outer chamber. >> that's it, i'm antonio mora, see you again in an hour on "america tonight". playing for keeps. >> you have to try saving the village were a blizzard. >> jacob ward on the game that could save a community also tonight - the pain hidden behind the screen. >> can you tell me what happens to your right arm and the fingers on your left hand christof putzel investigates the risks workers take to build