cops most of the deir az zor province. it's kept the remaining pockets of government-held areas there under siege for the past year. this week has been on the push to capture the areas. the russians say the aerial bombardment are to counter the push by the fighters. the people say it's all been at their expense. gerald tan. al jazeera. >> syrian state media is reporting that pro government forces recaptured more territory na latakia. the offensive is backed by russian strikes. indirect talks have been planned for monday. the secretary of state john kerry is confident the talks will happen, he's been meeting the king of saudi arabia, in riyadh the u.s. is allies are trying to create a list of opposition groups that will join the negotiations. >> one thing we did today which i think is important is we set up a clarity on the initial steps for negotiations on syria. we are confident with good initiative in the next day or so, those talks can get going and that the u.n. representative special envoy stefan de-mistura will be co

assault on deir az zor. it ha been called a massacre as i.s.i.l. forces in the east push to the si. let's go to andrew simmonds, who has been monitoring from istanbul. who is the syrian government saying about the attacks? >> the syrian government is giving a different account of event compared with the syrian observatory for human rights which is another opposition observatory, monitoring group. the government is saying there was a massacre of 300 civilians. the so h.r. is saying that there was a major operation by i.s.i.l., and i.s.i.l. took 400 people, civilians mainly, and also families of regime forces and officers and soldiers. they have been kidnapped and taken west towards i.s.i.l. firmly held areas. what we are also hear is there was a devastating attack by i.s.i.l. involving suicide bombers, and we heard from a civilian in the city, an account whereby there was a public beheading of one of the soldiers in the area, a suburb in the north-west of the city. and also three other soldiers prop beheaded

controls most of deir az zor province. and kept most of the government held areas under siege. the russians say the bombardment is to counter the push by i.s.i.l. fighters. the people say it's all been at their expense >>> world powers are to discuss the conflict in geneva on monday. secretary of state john kerry is confident that talks will happen despite divisions. kerrry and his ally are trying to create a group of opposition groups that will join negotiations. >> one. things that we do today is set up a clarity on how to proceed forward in the steps of negotiations in syria and we are confident that with good initiative in the next day or so, those can get going, and that the u.n. representative, special envoy stefan de-mistura will convene people in an appropriate manner for the pros. >>y talks. >> the -- proximity talks. >> the work we are doing is to bring stability in the region, and much is to push back iran's efforts in the region >>> kerry expressing confidence that the talks will take place, do we know when and who will take part? >> these talks are set for the 25th

we heard from an eyewitness we had spoken to in deir az zor that a hotel was amongst the targets hit in the center of deir az zor, beyond the district and a suicide bomber detonated there, and the so h.r., the syrian observe industry for human rights said 12 suicide bombers were among those killed. we are trying to get information confirmed or otherwise, the report of 400 being kidnapped >>> it's early in the day in deir az zor. we'll come back to you, andrew simmonds monitoring the situation from istanbul >>> russian air strikes targeted i.s.i.l. stronghold of raqqa in northern syria. this video posted by the armed group is said to show the aftermath of the air raids, with at least 43 people reporteded by killed. >>> the u.n. is demanding unrestricted access to help starving children in syria. aid workers researched the besieged town of madaya where tens of thousands are trapped. you may find some of the images in this report distressing. >> reporter: these syrians are demonstrating to keep the world's attention on the suffering of civilians suffering under blockades. in recent weeks