lead with ties to abdel hamid abaaoud, the mastermind of the recent paris attacks, and with plans of his own to attack other targets. he was killed in an air strike somewhere in syria on 24 december and that he was just one of ten i.s.i.l. leaders targeted this month. >> our ability to dismantle the facilitation networks, our ability to dismantle our ground commanding control, our ability to take away some of their enforcers, that eats away at their mood and instills fear. >> reporter: the obama administration has long talked about the need to attack i.s.i.l. on many fronts, financially and through social media, but it is the military campaign that has captured the most attention. indeed, the u.s. has spent much of the spoofed few days-- spent most of the last few days in driving i.s.i.l. out. the troops to retake the oil injury and sinjar home to both minority sunnis. >> translation: we will chase i.s.i.l. and go after them from one neighborhood to another and we will raise this flag from the last member of the i.s.i.l. we tell the people that we are coming to liberate them and i.s.

that have emerged suggesting that the man who was assumed to have organized the paris attacks, abdel hamid abaaoud, this attacker who was killed in the raid in st denis earlier this month, he was apparently being tracked by greek police as early as january this year. they failed to catch him. he was wanted in suspicion of plotting attacks in belgium. there have been security slip-ups, people passing through the net, not just in france but also in belgium and even in greece >>> thank you for that jacky. coming up on al jazeera, on the u.n.'s international anti corruption day, we're in kenya where the majority of people believe the problem has got worse. camping out in a former luxury hotel, why young families in brazil want politicians to do more for the poor. >>> mellow again. the top-- hello again. the top stories. afghan taliban is holding a number of hostages after storming the airport of the at least 22 people have died. it happened as a major security conference is underway in neighbouring pakistan. russia's defense ministries has fired a missile at raqqa. world leaders will meet in new york

pentagon says this man, 27-year-old charaffeal-mandela ouadan has been in contact with this man, abdel hamid abaaoud who was killed and said to be a leader of the cell that carried out the attacks. at least three of ten killed by u.s. drones and coalition jets were said to be attacked in some way to the paris attacks and were said to be planning additional attacks >> these are individuals who were specifically working to strike the west. they want to strike in europe and in our very own homeland. it is important that people understand that as long as those external attack planners are operating, the united states military will hunt them and we will kill them. >> reporter: the pentagon says in the three-week period this month coalition air strikes based on u.s. intelligence targeted ten separate i.s.i.l. operatives, killing two on december 7, one on 8th two more on 9 sids and five more on 10, 12, 24, 26 and 27. >> we're striking at the head of the snake. we haven't severed the head of the snake yet, and it has still got fannings. we have to be-- fangs. >> reporter: the pentagon released the kill list

. >> and isha, one of the other targets that the cell around abdel hamid abaaoud hit the commercial district here in paris and there are reports on french media and reuters saying that apparently he wanted his cousin, who was also with him in that apartment, to buy him two suits as well as a very fancy shoe so he could blend in along with an accomplice to the people there to then conduct those attacks after the infiltration. there are more facts coming to light about the investigation from here in paris as this cop 21 continues. isha? >> yeah, very frightening indeed. these details coming out about these purported attacks that would have been carried out in the days after november 13th. fred, turning our attention to the climate talks and president obama's attendance. he's there in paris as is his russian counterpart vladimir putin. the threat of isis very much on his mind and of course folks back home here in the united states as well. it is a very full plate for the u.s. president. >> it certainly is. one of the things about cop21, a centerpiece of is it to fight climate change. cop21 is a

meanwhile, isha, there are new details about abdel hamid abaaoud who plonted the paris attacks. apparently, this is something apparently a witness is saying to the investigators here, apparently he had other attacks in paris here, quote, ready to go. including on jewish areas, on transport networks, and also on schools as well. so it seems as though when the french police raided that apartment several days after the paris attacks they might have diverted other very big terror happening here in the french capital subsequently as well, isha. >> indeed. fred, turning our attention to cop21, it's day two of the paris climate conference. while there are high expectations, fred, as you know huge obstacles stand in the way of really getting a credible deal. >> well you know what, i think at this climate change conference the expectations are probably higher than at any time that we have seen in the recent years. you see the united states, especially president obama, more committed than ever to finding some sort of global binding agreement. and also for instance, countries like china, a

saying this is for the islamic state, this is for isis, a very interesting connection given what abdel hamid abaaoud >> two different looks at different ways the enemy is trying to attack those who love peace. paul cruickshank, thank you very much. jean-charles brisard, a pat on the back to you for excellent reporting. appreciate it. alisyn? >> ted cruz surging in the polls back here at home. and jumping ahead of donald trump. many pundits think cruz will win the whole enchilada of the primary. john avalon brings a history lesson to our magic wall to show what might happen to ted cruz. ♪ deck the halls with barks from rudy ♪ (rudy barks) well, it's more like "fa la la la la la la la la" but you're in the same vein. say happy holidays with milk-bone! >>> all right. you see the clock there to my left. right. the final countdown under way for tomorrow night's big republican debate, live right here on cnn. donald trump will be in the center. he will be flanked by ben carson and ted cruz. cruz narrowing the gap in national polls with trump and even leading in new polling out of iowa. cruz and trump engag