tonight on "worldfocus" -- going home. istan thousands of refugees begin the hard journey back to the swat valley, scene of fierce fighting with the taliban. tonight a rare look at what many will find when they get there. the kidnapping and murder of a russian human rights activist has sparked international outrage. russia's president says the killers will be found. so why do so many people not believe him? it's the disease that kills more than a million people a year, malaria. and now there are increasing signs that it's growing resistant to anti-malarial drugs. tonight we look at what that could mean. and you've heard it before, one person's trash is another's treasure. no where is that more obvious than at the secondhand market in cairo. let's make a deal.

good evening. i'm martin savidge. all this week we've been taking you inside the war against the taliban with the help of our "worldfocus" partners. as that battle intensifies in both afghanistan and pakistan. tonight we're going to focus on pakistan, where the government, under pressure from the united states, has been conducting large-scale military operations against the extremists. the government says its offensive in one area, the swat valley was successful, but it took a big humanitarian toll, driving some 2 million people from their homes. this week, some of those displaced people began to return to the swat valley, including the capital of the area, mingora. in tonight's lead focus we want to show you what it was like as they made their way back. kamal hyder of al jazeera english was with some of them. >> reporter: more and more people are coming back and by whatever means available.

some are on acres while others walk along with their livestock, like this old man who gives a helping hand to his animals. as the waits get longer at some checkpoints, some complain they're not getting any help to speed up the process. as the convoy starts to use, the children run back to the acres to the relative safety of the shaded trees by the roadsides. patience may be hard for some but there are others who are still hopeful. employees of the local government distribute rice and juices to the returnees along the road. not far away, the local fire brigade douses everyone with a splash of cool water to offer some relief. inside the bus, a father holds his daughter overcome with exhaustion while other children look on.

as we leave the conway moving to the screening of numerous checkpoints, even we have to register. while the returnees may be coming back to the valley, some are complaining that they are virtual prisoners in their own homes. >> these people are coming without rations. the bazaars are closed. what are we to do? we talking about hundreds of thousands of people. >> reporter: mingora is a city waiting for its people but it is a city in ruins. and in time markets and large buildings reduced to rubble. the people of swat may be coming back with a ray of hope but what they will see with their own eyes may lead to some dampened expectations. this was, of course, one of the busif the valley. also the hub of the commercial activity for the valley of swat, and now you see nothing but shops that are closed, businesses that are shut down.

the entire population of the city has fled. the government has now, of course, allowed them to return. it is going to take a while for those people to be able to come back, pick up the pieces and to be able to rebuild their lives. kamal hyder, al jazeera, mingora city. also from northwest pakistan today, officials said gunmen killed a united nations official who headed relief efforts at a refugee camp near peshawar. he was a 59-year-old pakistani who apparently resisted an attempt to kidnap him. he had worked for the u.n. for almost 30 years and was said to be looking forward to retiring sometime soon. in neighboring afghanistan, where u.s. marines are conducting a major operation in southern helmand province, the u.s. commander says they are encountering more taliban resistance after only sporadic fighting in the first weeks of the operation. one issue for the americans is a shortage of supplies.

ann scott tyson of "the washington post" is with the marines in helmand and writes -- "u.s. marines are short of basic equipment and supplies ranging from radios and vehicles to uniforms. critical supplies of food, water and ammunition are being dropped to troops by helicopters ferrying sling-loads to bypass roads implanted with bombs. several marines from one company, for example, ripped their pants during an arduous foot march and are still waiting for replacements, some in boxer shorts." for british forces in afghanistan, the problem is a shortage of helicopters themselves, a problem underscored today in a report by the british parliament, as we hear in this report from james blake of itn. >> reporter: this helicopter has just returned from active service in iraq. it's one of six that's been brought back to base at raf near oxford to be refitted and adjusted, ready for the heat and dust of afghanistan. the m.o.d. says they will be deployed some time before the end of the year but that may not be soon

enough. this morning a report from the defense committee said a lack of helicopters in afghanistan is limiting military operations and putting soldiers' lives at risk. the m.o.d. won't confirm exactly how many helicopters are in afghanistan but the fleet includes troop carriers like chinooks as well as links, apache and sea kings. the reports say they they have to use ground transport when helicopter lift would be preferred both for the outcome and the protection of our forces. the army says the overall number of armed forces has risen by 60% in the past two years but there has been great problems introducing them into afghanistan, as the report states it is unfeasible to surge helicopters into theater. >> the big problem which the committee reports attention to is manpower. you can't just up the number of pilots overnight. that requires a reasonable

period to train new pilots and you need to recruit them. >> reporter: earlier this month, 15 british soldiers were killed in afghanistan in just ten days. many fighting the taliban. their deaths have increased the pressure for more helicopters. visiting the area, chief of the general staff, general sir richard danitz, used an american ackhawk because, he said, i haven't got a british helicopter. these maryland helicopters will be abe new addition to the fleet in afghanistan but the report also criticizes the large number of different types of craft, saying it causes problems with technical support and training. it also condemns the government's policy to extend the flying hours and the life span of helicopters, insisting this is neither value for money, nor will it provide adequate capacity in afghanistan. >> james blake of itn. and taliban commanders are now threatening to kill a captured american soldier unless the u.s. military stops

operations in two districts in southeastern afghanistan. the unidentified soldier was reported missing two weeks ago after apparently walking off his base. one more note from the region, the prime ministers of india and pakistan met today and agreed to cooperate on the investigation of the mumbai o.ssacre in india seven months that attack, which india maintains was planned and launched from pakistan, led to a freeze in relations between the countries. today pakistan promised to do "everything in its power" to bring the mumbai attackers to justice. the surviving gunman, a pakistani, faces trial in india. pakistan has refused to hand over five other suspects accused of planning the attacks. and from iran tonight, the government says the head of that country's nuclear agency has resigned, saying he submitted his resignation 20 days ago, which was shortly after iran's disputed presidential election. no reason was given, but the official has long been close to the opposition leader and presidential candidate, mir hossein mousavi.

this was the day after an acclaimed russian human rights activist was kidnapped and murdered. it happened in the capital of chechnya, the republic long ravaged by civil war and insurgency. today, mourners gathered to remember natalya estemirova, who had worked in chechnya for a decade, focusing on killings and kidnappings she believed were carried out under the authority of chechnya's president, who is backed by the kremlin. we have more on her life -- and death -- from jonathan miller of itn in this report that was filed late yesterday. >> reporter: natalya estemirova, better known as natasha, was abducted by four men who forced her into a white car at 8:30 this morning outside her small flat in grozny. her body showing signs of a

violent death was found at 5:20 p.m. in the capital of the neighboring russian republic. unnamed security sources told the interfax news agency she'd been murdered. natalya estemirova brazenly confronted the thugs in chechnya, exposing and documenting hundreds of cases of human rights abuse, kidnap and killings. the russian president tonight expressed outrage and ordered an investigation, but we have been here before. natalya estemirova worked hand in glove in chechnya with a russian investigative journalist shot death in moscow three years ago. no one has been convicted of her killing. together the two women had been at the forefront of illuminating the dark side of russia's wars in chechnya, which laid near the capital. but natalya estemirova was the recipient of the award named after her friend in 2007, and here she is in london last year presenting it to an afghan women's rights campaigner.

>> without her, i don't know what a lot of people are going to do. and this also sends a huge message to other people in chechnya who are trying to work in the field of human rights and who are trying to open up some of the things going on in chechnya, big message if you stick your head out, you can get killed. >> reporter: channel 4 news has learned she had been working on a report for the new york-based human rights watch in recent days. human rights watched told us tonight it is absolutely essential that russia reverses the lack of accountability it has hung over chechnya for so long. one of the reasons like people like natasha are targeted is the climate of impunity in the north caucuses region. that needs to end, it said. not much evidence of the russian carpet bombing of grozny today. the city has been completely rebuilt by a 32-year-old strong-man president here on the left, who's bank rolled by the kremlin and who rules with an iron fist. his power is fast expanding, and he's just been order to take

charge in a neighboring city as well. and that's where natalya estemirova's body was found this afternoon. there will now be pressure on moscow to investigate this, the latest death in a grim and lengthening capital of unsolved murders in russia. >> that was jonathan miller of itn with that report, which was filed yesterday. you heard him say that natalya estemirova had been working with human rights watch on a report. well, for more on her death and murder and the state of human rights in russia, we turn to human rights watch -- to rachel denber, deputy director of its europe and central asia division. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> what's the significance of the murder of natalya estemirova? >> the message that was sent with her killing was that human rights activists, journalists, investigators, should stay away from chechnya. they should stop looking into

the kinds of things that natasha was looking into. they should stop looking into the killings, the abductions, the torture and the collective punishment that has been part and parcel of the counterinsurgency campaign in chechnya. >> and what do you think the impact will be? do you think all of that, the investigation will be stopped as a result? >> i don't. i think that natasha's killing leaves a terrible vacuum in chechnya right now. because she was an incredible force. s the nexus between victims of human rights violations and the outside world. but i think that there will -- i think that there will be more people to do that work. it will be a lot harder but i think that we will -- we have to fill that vacuum. >> the russian government says there will be a very thorough investigation. in fact, the russian president has said he believes somebody will be brought to an accounting. do you believe it? >> i believe that the credibility of his words will rest on the credibility of the investigation itself. i believe that russia is capable of holding a credible and

impartial investigation, if there is the political will. we have not seen that so far, but i think that if there is enough pressure from russia's international partners, that russia's credibility rests on the credibility of this investigation, then i think there's a chance. what can't happen, what cannot happen, is that the investigation is left to the local authorities in chechnya. this is something that has to be taken under president medvedev's personal control. >> do you think that it's possible her murder will have an impact on the relationship between the u.s. and russia? in other words, the u.s. has always stood up for human rights often in the world, and this seems to be a clear case of human rights. >> yes. well, i think there's certainly a role for the united states to play, together with its european partners, in pressing for an end to the unbounded lawlessness in chechnya. i think that the u.s. has a role to play in constantly, in not letting this guy, in not letting it be just another statement in

the issue, with constantly falling up with medvedev, with the russian leadership to say, where are the relates of the investigation? >> rachel denber, thank you very much for speaking with us today. >> thank you. in tonight's signature story, we look at a huge global health problem -- the war against malaria, the parasitic illness transmitted by mosquitoes that kills more than a million people every year. one of the biggest challenges in fighting malaria is drug resistance. in southeast asia -- cambodia -- health officials are seeing new evidence of resistance as they try to treat the most deadly kind of malaria. the concern is that this deadly strain will then spread to africa with devastating results. gary strieker has our report, produced in association with the global health frontline news project.

>> reporter: these villages in western cambodia have gathered to receive new weapons in a daily fight against malaria. they are being given bed nets that are doused with slow-releasing insecticides. if used properly, they should be able to kill mosquitoes for several years. they have proven to be effective but they're not a silver bullet against the disease. making matters worse is an even greater threat. there's increasing evidence that parasites of the most deadly strain of malaria, falciparum, are developing drug resistance. scientists from around the world have come here to determinhow and why this is happening. dr. mark fukuda is leading one of the studies for a group known as afriams, a u.s. military research unit. this local teacher is typical of the findings. like at least a third of the patients in the study, he's still positive for malaria after

four days of treatment. it may not sound like much, but it's significant. >> as one would expect parasites to clear in perhaps two days, 48 hours or so, what we're noticing here in this site particularly is that the mean time for parasite clearance is between 60 and 65 hours. we're concerned that this is a harbinger for early resistance that might later translate into the drugs being ineffective to achieve a cure. >> reporter: this is a serious concern because it has happened before. the best drug against falciparum malaria used to be chloraky. but over a 30-year period it was render largely ineffective as the parasites became resistant to it. the next drug was defeated in half that time. in both cases, the resistance began here in western cambodia and spread as far as africa, where 90% of malaria's victims live.

now the drugs being used are called a.c.t.s, combination therapies based on the compound artemisinin. as good as they are, the warning signs of resistance are now appearing again. >> those are our final line of defense at present and we don't have really any new drugs on the horizon. so if we lose this drug, things become at least in the short to medium term, quite serious in terms of malaria cause we will have lost our best drug. >> reporter: to combat the spread of resistance, the bill and melinda gates foundation is funding a containment project administered by cambodia's government and the world health organization. the key to its success is finding out how and why the parasites are developing a tolerance to the a.c.t. a trip to the local market provides clues. shoppers come here not only for fruit and vegetables, but also

for medication from private pharmacies that have been here for years. >> this drug is correct, and it's got clear instructions inside as to how to take the drug in the three days that you have to take it. bible that patients already cut it up and only take it until they're feeling better. this is the whole problem that we find in the private sector, that patients are not getting the correct dose, not getting the correct combination, and this is going to lead to drug resistance developing very rapidly, unless it can be controlled. >> reporter: the cambodian government is aware of the problems in the private sector. it has banned the sale of monotherapies, single drugs that are easy for parasites to adapt to. but they are still readily available on the open market. the country's top malaria official says a crackdown is imminent. but even if these efforts are successful, there are other challenges.

migrant workers pass through here to work the fields and build roads. they often don't have bed nets or access to adequate health care, making them more likely to catch malaria and spread resistance. to stem the tide, say some add advocates, spending on global malaria programs needs to be quadrupled to at least $4 biion a year. >> and we need that money because without it, be able to contain this resistance, and if it gets to africa, then there will be an enormous problem for at both africa but the global community to actually fund the consequences of that resistance. >> reporter: if those resistant malaria strains do take hold and spread to africa, the results could be catastrophic. this with a disease that already kills one child every 30

seconds. gary strieker for "worldfocus." as usual, when it comes to issues of science, we turn to michael novacek, the provost of science at the american museum of natural history here in new york. michael, we just heard about this drug-resistant strain of malaria that apparently has cropped up in cambodia. how much of a threat is this? how worried should we be? >> malaria is one of the world's great and terrible diseases and infects, martin, millions of people a year, has high mortality rates. so any time the parasite that spreads malaria develops a resistance to a certain kind of drug, it's certainly a concern and something to focus on. >> i have read and i have heard as well that there is concern that deforestation and global warming may contribute greatly to the spread of this disease. i guess i can understand the warmer temperatures. i wasn't quite sure the deforestation. >> well, there are scientific papers that have made the correlation between both of those factors and the spread of malaria.

there are other scientist reports and more recently that question, especially the straight on correlation between global warming and the spread of malaria. what actually is, the pattern is they are predictions based on science of where the disease will spread and where it will diminish, depending on those conditions. but why degradation of environments,hat's the factor there? well, any time you get that, you very often also comes with more people, degraded environments like stagnant water, polluted water, a greater amount of mosquitoes. >> more people going into -- >> the combination, a dangerous combination. lots of mosquitoes and lots of people. >> what does science do when you try to combat this disease? and do you think that one day, one day, it can be eradicated? >> it is possible that a huge disease, a very effective and problematic disease like this

could be eradicated but it would take an enormous amount of effort and money. in the meantime, there are efforts on all fronts to control the mosquito as a vector. also to develop new drugs that will knock out the parasite, that it hasn't adapted to, hasn't evolved a resistance to and there's also research, including research being done at the american museum of natural history to look at how that organism evolves and to look for clues to try to deal with the disease. >> to find an achilles' heel. >> to find that achilles' heel in the organism. >> michael novacek, it's always a pleasure, thanks. >> great to be here again. finally tonight, we take you to the capital of egypt, cairo, where tomorrow and every friday there is a sprawling market you can can find just about anything, as long as you don't mind that it may have been used.

it's not quite the egyptian version of "antiques road show," but as jon jensen of global post shows us, it may be one of the world's most ultimate yard sales. >> reporter: at first glance, these men appear to be sifting through a pile of trash. but this is actually a market, the friday market in cairo, where thousands of shoppers gather every week on a slum on the outskirts of town of the most of the item here's are secondhand. this man sells used appliances on this dusty plot. broken toys, furniture, computer parts and more. you can find everything here. older items may not always work but at least they're cheap. this woman wants to buy shutters

for her home. she says she comes here because she can't afford to buy them new. it's a lively, festive atmosphere at the friday and almost anything goes. this man sells exotic and endangered animals illegally. the bats, he says, are bought for their blood to remove body hair. rabbits and pigeons are sold for their meat, two of egypt's most popular delicacies. these little guys won't end up on the dinner table, but that doesn't mean they're all happy in their current state. whether you're getting goldfish or rotting smoked fish, buying here is never simple. a noisy negotiation is part of the game. but for buyers with patience, many deal as wait. >> inside the junk, you may find some good treasures. if i find something of good value, why not? it goes to my own collection or rube later on. >> reporter: but in this business, not everyone's a winner. ied, who has a college degree, only makes $2 to $3 a day. even still, he says, it's a

living. >> and there you have it. jon jensen of global post. that's "worldfocus" for this thursday evening. a reminder that you can also watch us on the web any time. that's at worldfocus.org. i'm martin savidge in new york. as always, we thank you for joining us. we hope to see you back here again tomorrow and any time on the web. until then have a good night.