at announcement comes one year after he appeared in a video threatening the lives of kenji goto and another japanese citizen. the journalist and self-proclaimed military contractor were eventually killed by the group. since then, the international fight against the militants have stepped up. we look at the state of the conflict. >> reporter: air strike after air strike have taken place in territories held by the islam state militant group. the coalition and russian forces have been bombing for months in syria and iraq. but what impact have the air strikes really had? an egyptian organization that monitors radical activity says the strikes are disrupting the group's propaganda machine. the once frequent number of video posts by the group has dropped dramatically in recent months. fighters also imply its losing ground. k world s able to intview a membe of the iamic state milint groupn syria. >>ranslato air strikesy alitionorces ar fierce. we pulle outrom a numberf cities, more and more fighters were killed or injured. >> wt does tt mean forhe rritory has seized? we asked an expert on middle e