get them up to speed, the proper equipment, and training required to face this novel threat. this is asymmetrical war. this is not one army against the other. it is much more complicated. usually, these people have home turf advantage in that they know these areas extremely well. on the contrary, some of the folks in uniform being deployed to fight. anchor: bringing us the latest developments. he will stay with us as this story develops in burkina faso, where there has been an attack on the country's military compound. there have been allegations this could be a terror attack.

we will be going back to that story later in this bulletin. these are the latest images we have from the capital, mogadishu. weeks sinceseven they launched the military to push them out of the syrian enclave. it has already come at the cost of turkish life, eight soldiers on thursday. one of the villagers recently residents- local explained why they have decided to stay put. reporter: three kilometers from thisurkish border lies area. when the free syrian army moved to seize this village from the kurdish ypg, he was one of the few civilians to stay. >> if we are going to die, we

might as well die here. where else would we go? defeated with the ypg here, power has changed hands. and there are new men to answer to. >> when we entered the village, we marked the houses people were living in as a reminder to check themater. reporter: she recalls the kurdish military retreat. >> we did not have problems with the ypg aside from they said they wanted my granddaughter to go with them. come to the door. one of them came up to me and told me she was going to take me with them. i refused. reporter: fighting here was over in just two days, but danger persists. the wet paint alerts people to the presence of mines.

>> there was an explosion in this house. one martyr died, three men were injured. over there is another house that is booby-trapped. rerter: the turkish army and allies now control dozens of towns like this. but with many bldings still yet toe cleared and others destroyed entirely, it will take time before people feel ready to come back and try to return to normal life. anotherstay in syria, cease-fire has begun in the eastern province according to the russian military. it has done little to improve the situation for the 400,000-strong population there. aid are stillwith unable to reach the embattled enclave.

this friday, a suicide car bomber has rocked the afghan capital killing at least one person. expatriatesrea many reside in. this comes as groups like the taliban continued to step up their assaults in the city. earlier this week in a bid to end the 16-your conflict with the insurgents, the country's president extended and olive branch to the telegram. to the taliban. passersby helped to move the wounded as they we could for ambulances to arrive. >> when the explosion happened, i rushed to the area. the shrapnel was still everywhere. i saw the dead body of the girl and two or three other badly wounded people. the whole area was covered in dust and smoke. reporter: officials say the

target of the bomb was a foreign forces convoy. no one has yet claimed responsibility but it follows a speak of attacks by taliban and the islamic state group. the bombing also comes just days after the afghan president extended an offer of peace to taliban and -- offered to recognize them as a political party. they have yet to give a response but have indicated some openness to negotiate. anchor: let's go back to our breaking news story this friday. there have been reports of capital ofthe burkina faso. an explosion was heard at army headquarters downtown. witnesses have said one building is on fire. smoke is billowing from one particular structure.

embassy in burkina faso has urged its residents to stay away from that particular location. gallagher fenwick joins us with more updates. i have just seen one report of the french embassy modifying an earlier message sent on facebook saying it is unclear the locations targeted in the capital. >> this is a very small perimeter. there is a lot of high-value or added value targets there. there is france's embassy, france's cultural center. there is also burkina faso oneonal army headquarters to two kilometers away from each other. the pictures we are seeing are shot from a distance so it is difficult to see where the plumes of smoke are coming from. very difficult to verify the information we are getting from folks on the ground saying up to

five different assailants, perhaps wearing masks, came out of the vehicle, guns blazing. that vehicle was seen on fire afterwards, those men shouting in the streets, shooting at random, and headed towards the french embassy. french authorities quickly reacting, telling people to stay sheltered because they were coming under attack. there was a message posted on the french embassy's facebook page. there was a message on the website of france's foreign ministry saying there was an attack underway. burkina faso's director general of police also saying suspected islamist militants were attacking the city center without mentioning specific targets but certainly telling folks to stay out of the city center. we saw a similar message posted by u.s. authorities as well, basically telling folks to stay

sheltered, this is very much a fluid situation. difficult to tell what the target is. there are several different possibilities. anchor: it is unclear what is going on at this stage. there are contradictory reports. we know burkina faso has had problems with terrorism in the past. we know burkina faso has had political instability in the country with an attempted coup d'état. while not vocal, it has been part of the g5 group. not long a meeting ago in february. >> they are part of the coalition with regional countries with part of the insurgency based in that country, perhaps boring over into burkina faso. hass has also -- france also poured resources into this effort. about 4000 uniformed men and women to help in this volatile

area to push back against this that has madet recent attacks in burkina faso. last year, tens of people killed or wounded in attacks against western-linked holdings -- buildings. prior, also a high-profile militants attack against several targets. that is one possibility. the other is perhaps something linked to this failed coup d'état which saw the arrest of dozens of men who attempted to overthrow the president. these men part of a controversial military unit. a lot of them arrested. interestingly enough, the trial for these men, about 50 of them, was set to take place this week,

to start at the beginning of this week, but it was canceled after lawyers for the defense walked out of the military court. again, unclear as to what we are seeing here. thist this point -- but at point from the indications we are getting, it does bear the hallmarks of an islamist or perhaps jihadist type attack. anchor: i think the big question here is, we are looking at images. these are limited images we have at the moment. for the time being, it seems traffic on the streets is relatively fluid. these may have been taken within moments of the attack. we are uncertain of that. what is it burkina faso needs to be doing to step up its security program? is this a lost cause? it is in the region very much victim to attacks by insurgents. >> very fragile, very

under-resourced. in terms of these images, the focus of the local forces that have deployed to contain this threat is to secure the narrow perimeter, one to two kilometers , between the french facilities and the army headquarters. it will take them time before securityexpand the perimeter and keep all of the innocent civilians out of this. folks are curious, they want to know what is going on. they are not necessarily listening to news outlets. they are wondering why this black smoke is billowing in the distance. they arethere are -- accustomed to this because of the recent past. we have spoken about the other attacks. remember, the jihadist may have made new inroads into burkina faso. they have targeted the eastern

parts of the country with victims in a recent attack, military victims, members of burkina faso's military. this country is part of the regional effort to push back, contain, and eliminate the jihadist threat. this is a massive asymmetrical war that will take time. this is one of the symptoms of what they are currently dealing with. anchor: gallagher fenwick, thank you for that analysis and trying to shun might on what appears to be a certain -- shine light on what appears to be an uncertain scenario. they have issued a correction saying on facebook that the attack is ongoing. they urged residents to stay indoors. we have new images of the smoke billowing and street scenes in the capital. previously, the embassy had

written the attack was taking place at the embassy and the french institute. that has been corrected. we will be bringing you more developments on the breaking news story as they come in. stay with us for that. let's move on to yemen where the civil conflict shows no signs of letting up. the war-ravaged nation faces a growing threat of disease. they have been in the port city embedded with government troops and send us this report. reporter: on a mission with government forces in the streets of aden. these men are the last remaining regular soldiers in the city after violent combat. them against opposition rebels four weeks ago. prepare for an

anti-terror operation, a show of force, or perhaps a shot at glory. >> we have received information a vehicle with explosives entered aden this morning. reporter: worn out and reduced to just a few hundred men entrenched in one area of the city, they do not control much year. the army put on a brave face and show off their newest recruits. >> you should respect your motherland. never forget that this country feeds you. i demand that you treat your comrades like your brothers. some have managed to hold onto their patriotic streak. >> we had many enemies , our country and inside. >> they are here to fight on the

front lines. we train them and make them into real soldiers. they are very motivated. own.hese men came on their reporter: but the colonel's optimism looks like the final hurrah of an army in disarray. anchor: let's go back to our breaking news story this friday where there have been reports of smoke and gunfire in the capital of burkina faso. newsding to a number of agencies, and explosion was heard at the army headquarters in the army headquarters downtown. one building is currently on fire. let's bring in our senior reporter who has been following developments for us. can you give us a recap of the information we have so far? there have been some contradictory reports. reporter: it has been a very fluid, fast-moving, confusing situation with lots of reports coming in from on the ground.

let's go through what we know at this stage. there are attacks at two separate locations, both in the center of the capital. there are lots of strategically important buildings in these two locations in the city, which are around two kilometers apart. one is the army headquarters where several witnesses have reported hearing a large explosion and seeing armed men. around two kilometers away, we have the french embassy, the prime minister's office, and other important government buildings. they have also reported signs of an attack. from thewe heard french ambassador on social media saying this is an attack on the french embassy. they have climbed back on that saying they are not sure if it was targeted in the attack. but clearly, it was in the

immediate surroundings of the area where there have been reports of gunfire. very confusing situation. i imagine we will get more clarifications. it seems two separate locations have been coming under attack. an explosion gunfire, armed men have been seeing. clearly, that is ongoing. there is fire in one location. exact details of the location of which one was targeted in which other locations have been caught up in the central government area remains to be finalized. anchor: we have heard from two official forces, one from the french embassy and the other from police forces present in ouagadougou, that this was a terrorist attack. we know that has not been confirmed. we are talking about a country not foreign to the concept of attempted coup d'états and political instability. reporter: the context is

important. african the part of where it is extremely volatile, where there are islamist groups active, where countries are trying to fight against those. in northerno haram nigeria. there are very many factions of these islamist groups active around the zone. we have seen attacks in various countries in the region. in burkina faso itself, there was an attack in 2017 where gunmen opened fire on a café. in january of 2016, 30 people were killed in an attack on a hotel and restaurant. they are targeting areas known for having international citizens, government personnel

as well. there have been two previous jihadist attacks in burkina faso. the country saw an attempted coup d'état which failed in september of 2015. the ripple effects of that are still being felt in burkina faso. just last week, we were talking about the trial due to start of those involved in that failed coup d'état. that was postponed. it is creating a huge amount of discord. this is not dead and buried political history. this was very recent political history. in this trial, there were 84 men on the accused bench, including two former generals and powerful figures. there are different destructive elements which could be behind the attacks in burkina faso. we don't know precisely which groups are behind it. no official confirmation.

no claims of responsibility. early days here. a lot of context to take into account. anchor: very early days at this stage. the attack was no longer than an hour ago. burkina faso is part of a coalition group in the region, the g5. only a week ago, they were holding a meeting to talk about the increased presence of islamist insurgents in the country and how to fight them. reporter: this is one of the principal angles people will be looking at. is it because of burkina faso withcipation in the g5 various countries across the region? it is being funded and supported by various states, western countries, turkey as well. you have the turkish president visiting africa, pledging his support, announcing funding for

the international effort to crack down on islamist terrorism in the area. as the pressure steps up on islamist groups, is this their way of fighting back against countries which are participating in this force and putting the pressure on them? are they saying if you participate in g5, you will become more of a target? that is one of the principal lines of inquiry here. it could be what is put in burkina faso again in the firing line. anchor: you have been talking about the international crackdown on insurgents in the region. if these reports proved to be accurate that they are back and forth as to whether this is true, if indeed the targets in the country are french, what does that mean? why is france so significant? reporter: we are not sure the

french embassy and french institute of the principal targets. they may be caught up in the violence. france has a long past in west africa with former colonies and still maintains a strong hand in the relations between france and its former colonies in west africa. france and the french military remains a powerful player in the zone. french interests have been frequently targeted by jihadist groups in the past as westerners , but also french targets themselves. france has led military interventions in mali in 2013. there was a french-led military intervention to try to eradicate jihadist fighters from mali. it has been continuing those military efforts in liaison with other military forces in the

zone. france has been a leader in trying to take the fight to jihadist groups and has made itself even more of a target for those groups. we had kidnappings of french nationals, the targeting of french interests. the history of france and its former colonies goes back a long way. also, for its role as a modern-day antiterrorist force. thank you for bringing us the latest on the evolving story on burkina faso with a potential terrorist attack. it could be an attempted coup d'état on the country after the attack on the capital. we will bring you more developments as they come in. lift pass to the -- let's go to the director at the fidh.

what is your assessment of this attack that has just taken place on ouagadougou? we are getting various contradictory reports. what is your assessment so far? >> the last information i get, even if we have to be very .autious with that it seems to indicate this is a terrorist attack. this is the operational mode to attack theg symbol of the state. recalled -- you just recalled the french presence in the fight against terrorism in the region.

although show it should be a terrorist attack more they coup d'état. otherwise, we would have more military fights in the capital of burkina faso. this is also the anniversary of the creation of a terrorist created by one of the major terrorism leaders in the area. differentd four terrorist groups in africa. it seems to be more a terrorist attack than a coup d'état. the significant element is you attacks against the foreign

troops, alsoench against the state, military, police, and other security forces fighting against the terrorist group. the last element showing this isld be a terrorist attack the terrorist group seems to have good connections and operational connections in burkina faso, in this area. this is a kind of capacity of to thethat leads possibility of them to show they mali, butst based in showing they are extending their operation in burkina faso. inre was a terrorist attack

niger.d another in anchor:

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