a ceasefire in syria and opposition are due to resume in geneva and rebels accused president bashar el assad not being serious about negotiations and staffan de mistura has separate talks with the high negotiations committee and the syrian government delegation to find a solution to end the war in syria. air strikes in northern iraq killed at least 25 people and injured around 70 others. the u.s. and its allies hit an area mosul university and shops nearby, the city has been held by i.s.i.l. for over a year now. on sunday the u.s. military confirmed it carried out 16 strikes against i.s.i.l. over the weekend. a football match between two big teams has been cancelled over concerns and it had been scheduled for sunday evening and called off because of intelligence about a potential threat. monday marks the kurdish new year and rules and it will be muted in the kurdish southeast region and the first new rules since the kurdistan, pkk and kurdish military and clashes between the sides left many people homeless and we report. >> reporter: the kurdish new year since the collapse of the ceasefire a

bashar al-assad to step down. called on all sides to honor the ceasefire which secludes i.s.i.l. and el nusra fighters. >>> it's been a week, since the ceasefire has begun and it has been broken dozens of time but the u.n. says test hopeful. >> live scenes normal in the marketplace in the city of aleppo in the northern syria. >> people are out and buying, women are even bargaining about the price. before the produce they didn't, they used to be scared. >> reporter: but no one is under any illusion. temporary ceasefire could be shattered any minute. 150 violations by government force he on russian air force. while the russians accused the rebels as more than 30 exchanges. >> the campaign it suffered in daily. >> reporter: in some areas the war never stopped. government forces are trying to advance in different areas. in aleppo's northern and southern country side, latakia's country side as well as the province of idlib, the government is fighting el nusra front and i.s.i.l. neither is included in the ceasefire. opposition fighters fear the government's plan is to besiege the city of alep

bashar al-assad to be part of that. russia wants ethnic kurds to be included in the talks but not invited. i.s.i.l. and el nusra front have also been secluded. staffan de mistura said only one way forward. our deployment editor, has been following things in geneva, james bays is joining us. russia has announced they are starting to withdraw their military force from syria. do we have a clear idea exactly what they mean? >> reporter: well, i think it is this the statement. i think the question is: what it actually means in terms of their support for the assad regime. in the hotel behind me, the syrian government delegation. led by the syrian ambassador for new york. i think this is rather uncomfortable to him potentially because not only has the russian military involvement been a game change are it also gives them diplomatic mat might aat these s and the ambassador should be pretty pleased at the announcement coming from moscow, the announcement by president putin himself. this is what he said. >> translator: i believe that the goal set out to the ministry of defense and the armed forces has overall been

el nusra front and i.s.i.l. this is evidence that the government of syrian president bashar al-assad is still making advances. mohammed jamjoom, al jazeera. >> up next people in the u.s. illegally, who join the military. why some say this is a good thing and others say it's a security threat. and fighting violence with economics. a chicago neighborhood that is pulling siflt itself out of vioe in hopes of make itself safer. >> there is no business blow-back tonight against the north carolina line banning an anticomploimenantiemploymenten r identity or sexual orientation. apple stores say their employment is open to everyone regardless what they look like or how they love. >>> giving people a fast track to citizenship but critics call it a potential national security risk. al jazeera's duarte geraldino reports from fort benning georgia. >> dave tomlinson is imrament. he just became aen citizen. >> i decideto join the army. >> that process becoming an american citizen can take up to five years, frn being grante --g granted a green card. promising to fast track their path to citizenship when they enlist but a pil

doesn't want president bashar al-assad to be part of that, russia on the other hand wants ethnic kurds included in the talks but haven't been invited. i.s.i.l. and the armed group el news are rah front have been secluded. staffan de mistura says there was only way forward. our diplomatic editor james bays has the story. >> back at the u.n. in geneva for the latest round of-y talks. this was the government delegation led by chief negotiator and u.n. ambassador bashar al jane arraf. jaffray. but staffan de mistura said no plan b for syria. says he plans to move quickly to issues of substance. >> the mother of all issues, political transition. >> ambassador jaafrrey says the role of bashar al-assad is nonnegotiable. >>> the framework is very important to achieve substantive success. >> reporter: the main opposition block will pete mr. de mistura on tuesday. a clear change meaning the removal of president assad but their spokesman admits the other side is never likely to accept that. >> we know the mentality we're dealing with because it is not only a suffer of five years, it is a suffer of 42 years in the role of assad the father and then the son. >> getting these ta

el nusra front and i.s.i.l. considered terrorist groups by the syrian government. i.s.i.l. withdrew mucevidence tf syrian president bashar al-assad is still make advances. mohammed jamjoom, al jazeera. >>> we're joined by mike lions great to see you. mike lyons, graik to see you. >> i think the group's number 2 this al fari individual he was a senior person from al qaeda in the mid '90s. pledged allegiance to i.s.i.l. over the past years. he brought in a lot of recruits so i think that's a significant hit from the u.s. perspective. i also heard he was killed around tal afar, as the troops go between syria and mosul to keep control of the caliphate. >> we also heard that omar died by air strike but we keep hearing about these i.s.i.l. leaders being killed. are they easily replaced? >> it is a decapitation strategy but they are easily replaced. the second person we just talked about was a big hit, the other one, younger individual, hasn't walked the earth, doesn't have that level of influence. right now there is a race against time, whether i.s.i.s. can export terrorism as fast as they can hold onto land in the middle east. you saw

el nusra and i.s.i.l. considered terrorist groups by the syrian government and they withdrew most fores from syria after area strikes after six months. but this is evidence that the government of syrian president bashar al-assadill making advanc advances, al jazeera. >>> ending the fighting in syria ended in geneva and the special envoy to the u.n. staffan de mistura wrapped up indirect talks with the syrian government and the opposition but both sides are still in disagreement over the transition of power. staffan de mistura is pushing for a political solution and says there will be further talks in two weeks. >> the next round of talks will be not focusing on principles again. we have had enough of that and i think many valid common points there but to start focusing on the political process and to us political process based on the security council resolution adopted by everyone is political resolution. >> u.n. estimates almost 3,000 lives have been saved since the pause in fighting in syria and while diplomates struggle to find a political solution the reduction in violence is being felt in aleppo and we report on life for residents there and talks to syrians and neighboring turkey about what they think of

bashar al-assad to be part of that. russia on the other hand wants ethnic kurds included in those talks but they haven't been invited. i.s.i.l. and the armed group el nusra front has also been exclude he from thed from the t. staffan de mistura said there's own one way forward. our diplomatic editor james bays is there. hi there james. what about the imminent withdrawal of some of russia's forces? >> reporter: i think that's very, very important development julie and in fact we have come to the hotel where the syrian government delegation are based to try and get some reaction. no reaction so far. we know that president putin did inform president assad before making this announcement, an announcement he made while he was with his defense minister. he said in large part they have fulfilled their objectives in syria. they started the withdrawal from syria the main part of the russian force. and asked his foreign minister sergey lavrov to intensify the russian role in the peace process. a lot of questions b at this stage because russia has been absolutely key, the trump card in many ways for assad regime as we come very close to the fifth anniversary

el nusra front and i.s.i.l. considered terrorist groups by the syrian government and withdrew forces from syria after launching air strikes for six months. but this is evidence that the government of syrian president bashar al-assadstill making advances, mohamed with al jazeera. >>> more on the situation in syria we are joined by the turkey-syria border, omar? >> reporter: yes, we heard from mohamed the continuation of fighting in parts of syria, those parts of syria are not in the truce because it involves fighting i.s.i.l. the over all level of violence has dropped dramatically on sunday, one month of truce will come into effect. now the truce idea is first to stop the level of violence and to try to decrease it and also to allow much needed aid. well now to discuss the situation the humanitarian situation in syria i'm joined now by mohamed and you are from the syrian american medical association, if i ask you one month of truce, how did it affect the flow of aid to besieged areas inside syria? >> with the besieged areas in syria and besieged people and not enough to respond to those people because the need is too huge. until now deliveries prevented by u.n. damascus and not enough because the majority of the b