soldiers police and civilians residents say some died in government strikes too dangerous to move bodies most of the streets for days the red cross moved some to a hospital inside space and resources are rationed between hundreds of soldiers and civilians the red cross very few body bags and medicine to its doctors despite a direct threat from the taliban. as the armed groups attack was the most aggressive against an afghan city since it briefly took control of condos two years ago the city's police chief estimated more than one thousand fighters swarmed into gaza me after midnight on friday equipped with guns and rocket launches their arsenal group as they overran checkpoints and ceased police vehicles. after four consecutive days of the government prematurely declaring victory over the taliban and seen reinforcements on monday the extra troops swung the battle the afghan

military requesting just to us is strikes on tuesday compared to thirty two in the days prior to actually listen. to afghan security forces strongly resisted and fought the taliban with high morale in different parts of the city and defended their people and country due to heavy clashes the enemy suffered a lot of casualties. over water five thousand ias important lies just one hundred fifty kilometers from kabul on the main motorway self take gosney and you save a couple from the southern provinces of the military pushed up the taliban this time the fight has remained in the surrounding villages and in the middle the people of gosney shallot ballasts al-jazeera. the taliban was pushed out of power in two thousand and one after the us invasion of afghanistan but the armed group hasn't gone away a report by the special inspector general for reconstruction has found that as of january two hundred twenty nine districts were under government control which is about fifty six point three percent of all districts there were fifty nine areas

approximately fourteen point five percent under the control of the taliban and other factions the remaining one hundred one thousand districts are contested controlled by neither the afghan government nor armed groups. all right let's bring in our panel joining us in kabul she come dom the chairman of the afghan anti-corruption network and a former advisor to nato in washington d.c. i'm a measured yar resident fellow at the middle east institute and also in kabul rahim a political analyst specializing in regional security welcome to all of you miss stuff i want to start with you what would it mean if it were to fall to the taliban . well i think it's it's a debate big loss for the government actually it's very clear failure of. intelligence because the taliban coming together in such a large number of they certainly have gathered their resources from different

provinces and even beyond borders of afghanistan beyond the do it in line and they have been doing all this i mean they have been preparing for this attack for quite a while people the general public knew about it but the fall of those us needs a big loss in a sense that first of all falling off a city that is merely outside kabul i'm one hundred fifty kilometers or even less than that. a city that connects the center of the country to the whole of the soudan region even the western region and then maintaining that hold over the city for four days or even right now we have that some of the clearing operation has to be continued because taliban resisting the forces so it's a big loss for the government and i think it's a big setback for the security institution of the afghanistan aside from was me on wednesday there were dozens of afghan soldiers and police that were killed in

a taliban attack on a military outpost in northern buckland province what does all this say about the overall strength of the taliban right now. i believe it's not only the taliban it's. its islamist movement of uzbekistan it's pakistani military as well as pakistani militias i would call all these joint attacks as well as complex attacks it's just coming ahead of actually big cease fire that we're expecting to happen in big. ha so these are the moves by the taliban as well a small fraction of taliban as well as their affiliates such as. in other fictions to interrupt the peace process in negotiations as well as to create fear in security in meanwhile it's coming ahead of most two months ahead of the parliamentary elections so it's more of an truck thing the peace to billet the

security as well as negotiation with the palace bonn specially while it's almost one year from the present trump strategy for afghanistan after a day i think negotiation of america with the taliban and qatar in doha so these are the signs and signals that a fiction of taliban clearly up was in peace and becomes to the asian a matter for talking specifically about the violence right now in the replications the violence is all of this what's happening right now do more to the strength of the taliban and or other groups or is it due more to the weakness of the government in afghanistan. it's actually a combination of both because taliban certainly has gotten the upper hand on the battlefield and the fall of. even if it was briefly was a major blow to the afghan government because it exposed the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the afghan security forces it also undermines the confidence of the

afghan people in the government because if they cannot secure a provincial center just hundred or one hundred fifty kilometers away from the capital then how they can secure the rest of the country but the taliban also wanted to show project power and also show that they trumped this ration strategy aimed at weakening the taliban on the battlefield and to force insurgents to come to negotiate the cable has not yielded results i'm also by capturing a provincial capital and also increasing their military activities across the country the taliban also wants to maximize battlefield gains in order to use that as leverage in any potential negotiations with the united states i want to get back to a point you were making about the overall security in the country and ask you specifically about you know if the taliban were to be able to take the does that raise the specter to you and your colleagues that the taliban could potentially

even surround kabul and it doesn't it's very close to kabul right. whether this document might be a bit of what exaggeration because even for taking the z. they had to invest so much off resources they had to accumulated from all around and coming to kabul and surrounding it it will be a bit of exit generation but certainly they have challenging government for it and they have challenge the government resources and it's not doing it does anybody know that or the cool stuff last for four to five days they have attacked one. crossing point into the icon point point that they have. the security forces in there where they had they have taken hostage a number of security forces they have attacked in babylon and more the out trying to show they have spent all around but coming to the point of basically i don't think they have as much resources to continuously challenge and continuously invest

in such big attacks but it's more to do with they every now and then make a big statement on the conflicts enough of honest and to just demonstrate that politics send a message across and also there have they are trying to erode the confidence of general public in the afghan government so this is more to do with the tactical ping not in the dark to taking it actually because they have not able to maintain it even in the more a.d.'s so it's more of change of tactic for taliban which has been working for them since the collapse of induced two years back and then they were able to take over the center of fatah province i would be for a few hours but they did call the city center if you alluded to how complicated the terrain in afghanistan is a few moments ago look let me ask you this i mean how much do local tribal dynamics play into the government struggles in afghanistan to hold on to territory.

actually that's a good question because other than you know the dynamic of the local tribes as well as others there's also other than. divisions unfortunately especially right now pakistan iran and some other elements they would like to create more frictions within the culture and religious society between sunni and shia is and this perfectly or subtly applies and i wasn't because the majority of people in has the are send me and pashto and then you have minority shia in tajik so you would see the support of iranian to the shia sector as well as support of pakistan to the sunni side so we have also heard that in other areas including the north from afghanistan there are some. russian support

to the local fighters as well as influential power brokers that they supply arms they provide money and even training in this in the people who came to husni it's it's massive a number of people it's around one thousand people it's not the taliban and they have received training because the the type of attack they cupid it's unprecedented it's very complex they cut the supply route to south and capital of afghanistan they cut the power they cut the communication lines like cell phones everything else and they're burned down brutally the city so it was unprecedented i would say attack in the last seventeen years so this shows that of course besides some power brokers inside the taliban there is strong advise especially from al qaeda affiliates which called indian sub continent they help and they're here to advise them and to support and we have also so far we don't have the name in list but we

have heard that there are some senior al qaeda. members from indian subcontinent was part of the operations or attacks and they have died as well ahmed analysts have suggested that the assaults on those near are essentially a show of force by the taliban before getting into peace talks or negotiations with the u.s. what do you say to that yeah that is of course part of their strategy because they're showing to deny to say that this ration strategy if we condemn militarily has not worked out so if there are any negotiations between d.n.i. to say send the taliban but then show it to all of us troops or about any political settlement in afghanistan then it would be did taliban which with said on the table from the position of strength not the american side or even the afghan government let's remember that the taliban has so far not accept the afghan government they

have only agreed to negotiate with the united states so it is premature to even talk about the prospect of any political settlement between the warring sides but at this moment both sides want to increase their leverage on the battlefield in order to use that. for any potential negotiations which stuff from your vantage point what kind of conditions would do the taliban accept in any kind of a peace negotiation or peace deal i mean would they want a power sharing deal what would they want. well they would certainly start from the point of returning back to the throne that they were to pare down from in two thousand and one by the international forces but that is where they will start the negotiation but of course they're looking for a polish heading at this moment of time and that will be where they will start negotiating. the problem of the taliban till the negotiations really make i mean

it mature enough to the level of making it public they will continue fighting and they'll continue showing. on the conflict scene so basically what david pushing for is sharing that that is something that will be acceptable to all sides given that they. do some of the. not negotiate or tums from the international community and from the afghan government i mean what do you think would the afghan government would the u.s. government be amenable to some sort of power sharing deal. the afghan government and also washington they have indicated that they will accept the participation of the taliban and a political system in afghanistan but i would slightly disagree with mr and that the taliban leaders want a power sharing deal so far the message from the taliban leadership has been consistent that they wanted establishments off their slum

a camera they do not drink or nies the legitimacy off the current political system and afghanistan and that is the reason that they have only accepted to talk to them are a can but not to the afghan government certain they that are leaders within the taliban that they would be amenable to any power sharing agreement by the hardliners they ideological core of the taleban data chick the current political system. islam and they wanted establishment of the islamist republic in the country were stuck to him i just disagreed with one of your points did you want to reply to anything he said. well this is what i'm saying whenever you into negotiation process side you sit on the negotiation table you start from your highest demands and you put forth your best human just like his base slummy did india peace negotiation with the afghan government but the argument being is that even taliban have realized that it's no more afghanistan of the ninety's afghanistan has changed

and even taliban have changed and of course there are hardliners and i want to highlight one point that the attack was basically something planned and undertaken by the hardliners because taliban can be classified into three groups as far as decision making is concerned the hardliners the ones who believe in a battlefield succès there is a group who believe in negotiation and that is a group which is undecided as of yet and the people who are who believe in fighting it power to and facing it off with the international community and the afghan government they were not even happy with the truce last time that happened during the eagle fitted and david always tried to really dictate the terms by making some sense it as some sensitive and sophisticated attacks so that the consensus that has been built around the peace process is washed away is is is is is taken away from the from the system and also they will try to dictate the terms

in terms of decision making but very ality is that when he did go to the negotiation table even if they're talking to americans on what terms americans have been not only americans but who the whole international community has invested in afghanistan for seventeen years now and nobody will agree to. giving up on all of those achievements that have been made over the course of the last nearly two decades so yes they would start from the heart position but definitely david negotiate down to power sharing that's my view shift just how concerned must the government of afghanistan be right now. i think it is absolutely concerning and the government is consenting and preparing to respond not only to the incident of what has the but meanwhile there are some threats in some areas like eastern afghanistan so the government is well prepared but meanwhile

there is one big hope not only for the government but for the entire afghan population and that is peace and a conciliation so i think it is the last shot specially the big even negotiations and ceasefire and i hope that this will settle through a peace deal otherwise i don't think there will be anyone for this war fare and this is the allies by the afghan government as well as the international allies and the new strategy for afghanistan. by the united states is conditional based so the united states will stay as long as afghan people need their support and as long as they're needed in afghanistan so this is also realized by taliban that the united states nato will not leave afghanistan until the afghan people ask them so perfectly i think this is a time for the afghan people and for the taliban to come to negotiation table and to make a settlement to end this war and in that case everybody will be the winner and nobody will be the loser mushtaq you just heard talk about the effects on the

population look i want to ask pacifically about the humanitarian cost of what's going on i mean i've read reports in the past few days it was so dangerous in the does need that even dead bodies in the streets couldn't be moved for days so what kind of a toll is this taking on the local population on ordinary afghan citizens. absolutely psychologically did has been devastating let me share another piece of information that the taliban have shown. a sense of unhappiness with the wrecked car across believing that they did not treat twelve dead dead bodies belonging to them yesterday there was a photo shared on the social media of their coffins were being empty coffins were being captured any center by the ministry of interior that has created a lot of uproar among the general public so it's psychologically devastating and i think this is the taliban tactic where they really want to. impact the psychology

of the afghans tried to. get to break the consensus that is built around the peace process because general public over the course of between generally two thousand and eighteen and two thousand and eighteen the general public really supported me the president is on me in his quest for peace process there was one wise from the nation that they wanted peace process they supported the kabul process announcement as well but now looking at the social media and the views that are being poured in by the general public you can see that the taliban are succeeding in impacting impacting the psychologies impacting the viewpoint that think part process in terms of supporting the peace process so not good signs for the afghan mission and afghan government and of course for the potential peace process that was in a stage where a lot of who hope was created ahmed is the current government up to the task of keeping the country together and perhaps more importantly does the u.s.

believe does nato believe that the current government in afghanistan is up to the task of keeping the country together. the afghan security forces have definite the major mark about progress over the past two years but we see that they still rely on the coalition forces when it comes to support roles like at power they are just sick and outers and without the support of coalition forces they have been struggling. to maintain their hold over population centers in different parts of the country so right now they're trying to strategy is to continue to train advise and assist afghan security forces so they had to deal with become able to police have get a sense border and fight against the taliban with minimal foreign assistance remembered that the withdrawal of u.s. troops in their latest yourself the obama administration in that way so they have

that created a vacuum for the taliban and other insurgent and terrorist groups to fill the vacuum so i think that the trumpet mission has learned from that mistake and also the mistake that the u.s. did in iraq however it has become increasingly difficult also far the administration here because it is now close to the first anniversary of the tramp's south asia strategy and it has little to show progress that in afghanistan. the war is becoming increasingly unpopular here in the united states all prison tromp may need some of its also keep its commitment to afghanistan and we talked about they had a consolation issue at the time that the taliban is increasing its violence and the government is delivering unilateral concessions that would also deep in divisions within the afghan government. data consolation process that is also part of this strategy to sow divisions within within the afghan government all right we're going

to have to end it there we run out of time thank you to all our guests. measured your and wish. and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j. inside story from a mom a gentleman the entire team here by for that. it looks so to me it sounds ugly and scares people from america's high streets to mexico's on the world record holder to the side and who controls the other side people in power follows the smuggling route and test the ease of acquiring untraceable weapons on american soil the weapon that was designed for war and it

took you about five minutes to buy a movie truman america's gun is arming mexico's cartels on al-jazeera congressman are you interested in stopping crime. al-jazeera where ever you are. southbound o. the economic heartbeat of a thriving brazil but boom times mean rising rents and the lack of public housing isabella is just one of thousands looking for a place to call home with no choice but to occupy one of the city's many vacant buildings facing an uncertain future. do you find a latin america occupying brazil on al-jazeera.

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heading for trial a judge i'm a lazy a rules the case against two women accused of poisoning kim jong un's half brother can go ahead. and welcome you watching al-jazeera live from my headquarters here in doha with me peter dhabi also coming up turkey says it's ready to talk to the u.s. over their diplomatic spat as cattle invest billions to help it through the currency crisis. italy's government says it may take over control of the country's whole motorway network as it tries to work out why a major bridge collapsed. and south africa's struggling mines massive job cuts lou as it commemorates a deadly day of protest. two

women accused of killing the half brother of the north korean leader kim jong un will face trial for murder in malaysia and the judge in the case says she can't rule out that it may have been a politically motivated assassination the court ruled there is enough evidence to try the suspects were from indonesia and vietnam last year they were seen on security video seeming to smi a nerve agent on kim jong nam as face at kuala lumpur airport the women said they thought they were taking part in a t.v. prank internees ambassador in malaysia has expressed shock at the decision and the lawyer for one of the women said they were disappointed. you know those she was going to have like where the evidence that she might. do was. there was no evidence that this is the food dish that show no josh none would draw that inference in print because he says well you look at the expression. she looks very. violent and if you look very relaxed i think you have a little look at from there i push she knew what was happening and that she must

have gone to the toilet the washing. drawn by the judge right or wrong but there's the inference rule and the days of right the course of pick up on their view florence louise at the court in charlotte. lawyers for the two accused say they are disappoint long time leader robert mugabe stepped down last november. one of india's former leading figures has died prime minister atal bihari vajpayee passed away after a prolonged illness the ninety three year old was the further behind india becoming a nuclear weapons power he was also one of the most popular leaders of the prime minister and that in the morning is ruling hindu nationalists the party. now they scour the bottom of the main river running through bangkok looking for valuables lost or thrown into the water but now the livelihoods of thailand's so-called indiana jones divers are in danger scott hardly has more from bangkok.

for nearly fifty of his seventy years come king has been a treasure hunter since he was a boy he's lived on the child prior river and spent a great deal of time in its murky water using his homemade equipment to dive for underwater treasure with bangkok skyline looming in the distance he heads up river like he has thousands of times before but it mitts he still gets excited before each dive when i might not have been doing this for a long time and i don't think i will quit i will continue to dive until i die i am always away as of the danger because down in the river i wrecked and then dress things that might be carried by the care and then hits me. he and the other divers go as deep as twenty metres but with near zero visibility they feel their way around a river bottom as they search for treasure so don has decided to come to this spot

for today's dive that's because there used to be a river community similar to theirs they called this home decades ago and the current is very strong right now so it's better for their hunting to be closer to the shore. don is happy with today's bounty some coins in china from a few hundred years ago but the standout piece one hundred year old opium pipe. is . early twentieth century and we found that even. in. that have. the pipe will fetch about twenty dollars from a dealer then sold in a market for about thirty they've never found antiquities and that's a good thing because their treasure hunting is technically illegal but the police don't bother them as their findings are not too valuable treasure hunting is a family business his main diving buddy his forty six year old son they make about three hundred fifty dollars a month but it's about much more than the money on. a dime it can be

compared to a fish they both always need to swim like doing exercise every day so the man is very healthy but when he's put on shore they'll be like a fish dying out of water who get sick kempon is worried about his father there's a government deadline looming over their community built on stilts they are to be relocated by the end of the year. that would put them out of reach of the river and their treasure hunting the only way to them has ever known to provide for his family it's got harder al-jazeera bangkok. i don't get enough of a problem in doha but the headlines on al-jazeera hundreds of news outlets across the usa uniting and offensive media freedom amid repeated attacks from donald trump the published editorials against his rhetoric but trump is taken to twitter again

saying the fake news media is the opposition party as well karen greenberg is the director of the center for national security at fordham university and she says this campaign is about raising public awareness about the threat faced by all media outlets in the u.s. this is really a wake up call to say it's not a one off one or another or this is really a national concern that's affecting small paper as large papers and it's giving support to papers around the country that maybe not the kind of limelight that the new york times the washington post the l.a. times might have so i think it's certain to say we're not just one where a large we're going to help those of us where weaker and smaller we want to keep journalism alive we want to keep it alive in the way it was intended to be as a check on power as among others a generalist chief prosecutor is warning that many more people may still be buried

under the rubble of the city's collapsed bridge thirteen mine have been confirmed dead the government is threatening to take control of the entire network following the disaster. the u.s. sang a wreath of franklin known as the queen of soul has died the seventy six year old musical icon is known for her distinctive voice and powerful live performances franklin won eighteen grammy awards in a career spanning the sixty years with hits such as respect and natural woman. turkey says it's ready to enter talks with the united states over the dispute that same tariffs and us currency plunge the dispute with the us began after turkey detained an american pastor accusing him of having links to the twenty sixteen failed coup as in the headlines on al-jazeera the stream is coming up next thank you very much for watching. national borders the debate on migration is polarized and. destroyed and this is. a madness how do you

define an indigenous brits who do they think isn't this more about living with difference and you and these are and who do they contain. the right. anywhere in the world have every right to leave their country. goes head to head with me on al-jazeera. ok go in the stream today environmental special we take a look at why twenty eighteen may be hosting sharon records and why some cities are actually sinking they could be a lot of our live on you tube and al-jazeera and i'll be looking at your comments and your questions and before we get to the global heat wave penguins the flightless birds capture the imagination of the child in all of us but they're being severely affected by climate change.