this is deja vu news live from berlin the taleban launches one of its deadliest attacks in months insurgents detonating a car bomb at a military base in central afghanistan killing scores of soldiers the government is accused of trying to hide the actual death toll also coming up with no end in sight to britain's corrects that deadlock prime minister may fails to end the impasse in parliament over her deal to leave the e.u. so where does britain go from here.

i'm brian thomas thanks so much for joining us and i tacked on a military base in central afghanistan has killed scores of people the taliban is claiming responsibility now there are conflicting reports about the actual death toll ranging from at least forty five to well over one hundred the violence and might on shore that's in wardak province comes despite increased efforts by the u.s. to find a negotiated end to the country's seventeen year old war. part flattened after a car loaded with explosives past three military checkpoint and data needed inside the compound officials say several gunmen then stormed the base opening fire at soldiers before being gunned down in themselves. it was around six o'clock by the

taliban who have been stepping up their attacks on government facilities in recent months under tared by the harsh winter this time the taliban were able to breach the compound security barriers by using a vehicle they had captured from the afghan military some of the injured were taken to local hospitals for treatment more serious cases were sent some fifty kilometers away to the capital capital. the government is facing accusations that it's hiding the truth to so as to avoid further worsening morale among afghanistan's already shattered security forces. ok let's go straight to kabul our joined by journalist for from there all you can to give us the latest on this attack there are conflicting reports right now on the numbers killed and we're getting a little. there so the conflicting reports continue we don't have an official updated number from the government goes beyond forty something

so and basically like last night i had been hearing several different figures within a few hours so initially i had heard thirty than fifty than eighty and one hundred twenty one hundred twenty six so this has become a major issue now one thing that to remember is that this is fairly common with attacks where people on the scene on the ground will say that the actual number of killed and injured was much higher than what is being reported usually though that has to do with the civilian death toll and the fact that this was an attack on the intelligence agency. again that this is raises more questions about why the real numbers are coming out what are the exact numbers and we also have to remember that a lot of those that were killed were killed obviously in the initial blast and then also when the building collapsed in on itself people were trapped people where. essentially they were they were killed while being trapped you know with fallen

rubble and things like that ok ali what about the timing of this attack taleban representatives were meeting with foreign diplomats and and cots are part of the u.s. initiated push for force peace talks will this attack and the attempts to get a peace progress peace process going. i have. it all and attempts to get a peace process going because the one thing is this peace process is still led by the united states in the united states has made it very clear that they want out of this war at any cost at this point the other thing we have to remember is that this is not unfortunately uncommon in this war we have seen you know the government three years has been talking about trying to get peace and talk peace with the taliban and they continue their talks on the call on targets and at the same time in two thousand and thirteen when the taleban briefly opened their office in doha they made a very clear statement they said you know we will consider peace talks at that time i didn't go anywhere but they said we will consider peace talks and we will keep

fighting so when eventually what we're seeing is a continuation of that war where both sides say that they want peace even to become much more official at this point from the taleban side and yet they both continue to attack each other. during a morale with the afghan security forces has been shaky at best recently houses likely to affect that. i mean i think the morale has been an issue for years i've done reports on this several times you know and the morale comes out many things it comes down to feeling abandoned when you come under attack and when cities are provinces or districts are about to fall there's been several instances where security forces say they didn't get the backup and their help that they needed it it's as simple as you know not getting proper not getting paid on time not getting to leave on time if you are martyred in the fight you know not necessarily having your body deliver to your family activity these sorts of morale

issues have been going on for a long time. and it comes from all sides it comes from the fact that you could be killed in this war very clearly and it comes from the fact that you know you while you're fighting this war you don't feel like you're being taken care of. us from kabul thanks very much for the insights. in a few hours' time france and germany will be signing a new friendship pact in the west. this treaty will commit the two countries to increase cooperation on european union policies and to work towards a joint foreign and security policy in a moment we'll talk to our correspondents about the paks process prospects but first here's a look back at how the relationship between paris and berlin has been evolving. france's president the man you're my corn is really speaking german and the german chancellor angela merkel is speaking french. during their mutual

visit to the french german youth center last summer they were clearly among friends but it wasn't always this way. shortly before the end of the second world war french soldiers moved into southern germany this after hitler had occupied and humiliated france for years german soldiers became french prisoners of war and it looked as if these tried and true enemies would always be at war with each other but the head of the french military troops was charles de gaulle and ten years later when he became president he had great plans. while at his private country residence called on billet doux that please he shook hands with west germany's post-war chancellor. and in nine hundred sixty three the two of them signed the elizee treaty of german french friendship. president to goal want to do joined forces with his german partner to become

a world power and eighteen years after the end of the nazis the young west german republic wanted to return to the community of nations and to a new friendships with their european democratic allies the west german celebrated . the key to the newfound friendship with young people who were untouched by the hatred that motivated their parents the german french youth project was founded and even today it brings together more than nine million members from both countries through its exchange program the chancellor and the president planned a common political agenda in europe and the world good friends valid a just god and helmut schmidt found a coalition of the seven most important industrial nations in the world the g. seven. in one nine hundred eighty four president francois mitterrand and chancellor helmut kohl shook hands and very close to the graves of the first world war they wanted to show europe that the worst enemies had become closest of allies.

today germany and france continue to meet daily to discuss european policy. they even cooperate militarily on weapons programs and in conflict zones such as in mali . it's an alliance that eighty years ago nobody would have thought possible. years michel like up there and back half and join us now from arc and good morning to both of you max if i could start with you what's in this new trainee and will it make any substantial changes. well many of those who read it the verdict is pretty clear there's not a whole lot more in there than we had in the treaty of beforehand and that's why the money call the french president whom we're expecting here. pretty soon has also said this is a different treaty it's not a treaty of reconciliation as in the past but it's a treaty of convergence and of course many of those elements that you have in there for example for cultural cooperation or making sure that the other country students

have language skills of the other country respectively all that is not new nevertheless there are some elements in there that are pretty new for example and has cooperation on the field of security and defense and we just sort of in the report if you consider that those two countries were bitter enemies a little more than seventy years ago that is significant so that's one part they're also trying to do something for the border regions removing obstacles making sure that they feel more like one region and not really have the separation between them and from a european perspective really important a lot of people in brussels are excited about this is that germany and france will always try to have a common a common position before the european union summits so i would say those are the most important parts here ok michele there's a lot of convergence going on or planned it all comes with a price tag of course where would the funding come from for these initiatives german parliamentarians have already expressing concerns that it will land that

they think will be footing the bill for all of this. well that's been the criticism particularly from the far right a.f.d. pasi largest opposition party in the top on the french side of course we had criticism from the far right from the pen suspecting that jimmy might be interested in getting that region back from france so this deal has already been torpedoed before the signature is drawing on the paper but it's about much more than an extra part of money which there will be full there is would have. regions but really finding ways to integrate politics much more and to actually see both cabinets and work much closer together now that was already put on paper on just under two pages some sixty years ago by that easy treaty and this time they actually want to put up something like a joint government program so what we're seeing on paper here is

a commitment by both states to go ahead were europe is dragging its feet and already talking about its need to gritty details of joint tax as well so this is much more than a joint project it's history and it's also of course let's not forget a lot of symbolism taking place here today ok certainly a lot of symbolism talk about that with michelle customer and max hoffman in a little bit when that treaty signing gets underway thanks for now. it's to britain now where prime minister threesome may is continuing her efforts to break the deadlock over on monday she outlined what was supposed to be an alternative plan after lawmakers rejected her original deal with the e.u. last week but the new plan fails to offer any new ideas. mr speaker turning to bret's if at first you don't succeed theresa may had an uphill battle on her second go at selling her brags of clamming she's faced criticism for refusing to take a no deal breaks it off the table but she said parliament held the key to solving

the problem for state money the right way to rule out snow deal is for this house to approve a deal with the european. task that is not this government is seeking to achieve the only other guaranteed way to avoid a no deal bret's it is to revoke article fifty which would mean staying in the e.u. one of the hardest issues to untangle has been the so-called irish backstop a deal to maintain an open border between northern ireland which is part of the united kingdom and the republic of ireland which is part of the e.u. may is facing opposition to the backstop within her own government but dublin says it's essential to maintain peace in northern ireland a car bomb exploded in the northern irish city of london derry over the weekend a possible warning from militant groups in the region. may says that

she is looking for a solution with regard to the back story despite the changes we have previously agreed there remain two core issues the fear that we could be trapped in it permanently and concerns over its potential impact on our union if northern ireland is treated differently from the rest of the u.k. so i will be talking for this week to colleagues in a way that can command the greatest possible support in the house and i will then take the conclusions of those discussions back to the e.u. . just who in the e.u. is willing to listen to those conclusions is an open question the block has ruled out further concessions to the u.k. and so far plan c. is nowhere in sight. let's get your reminder now of one of our top stories at this hour the taliban is attacked a military base in central afghanistan it is unclear how many people they killed one report indicates the death toll could be as high as one hundred eighty. this is date of your news live from berlin we have more of course coming up at the top of

the hour and don't forget you can always get the latest at a web site as well that's interview dot com may brian thomas of the entire team thanks for being. letter we were. when we were. eighty percent of americans at some point in our lives will experience hardship listening. for minds.