kirkuk. fighting around kirkuk has come with its own humanitarian impact impact this is the road that connects kirkuk. protect themselves from i.s.i.l. bombing. >> translator: we've lost.mem lost many men to i.s.i.l. car bombs. we have no intention to reopen this board. >> reporter: on the other side of the i.s.i.l. blockade, all they care is that i.s.i.l. does not return to kirkuk. as far as they are concerned it now belongs to them. control of the kirkuk and its oil reserves is a huge being need for knowledge coalition forces. says business is bad. >> i secured my restaurant. but it's the general insecurity and the fighting that's keeping customers away. people are too afraid to venture out. >> reporter: kurdish peshmerga fighters entered kirkuk after the national army abandoned its post seven months ago. the guards have long regarded kirkuk its historical capital. kirkuk represents a fault line. for now it remains family -- firmly in the grip of opposition forces. moanldmohamed adow, al ja

as far as these people are concerned kirkuk now belongs to them. of kirkuk is a huge victory for kurdish forces. but ordinary life is far from normal. this man operates this restaurant and says business is bad. >> translator: i have secured my restaurant, but it's the general insecurity and the fighting that is keeping customers away. people are too afraid to venture out. >> reporter: kurdish peshmerga fighters entered kirkuk after the army abandoned its posts seven months ago. in a country where history and past grievances play a key and violent part of the presence kirkuk represents an era of fault line. for now, though it remains firmly in the grip of the kurdish forces. >>> syrian activists say there have been intense government attacks in the northern countryside. activists are reporting heavy aerial attacks and arterial shelling. and activists say around 20 people have been injured in government attacks in the northern homs countryside. government helicopters reportedly dropped three explosive barrels over the rebel held town. most injured ar

fighting around kirkuk has always come with humanitarian impact. the road that links kirkuk to the west. it's now totally closed. and peshmerga fighters say they had to do that to protect themselves from isil bombings. >> translator: we have lost many men to isil car bombs. we have also on many occasions captured their spies around our positions. we have no intention to reopen this road. >> reporter: on the other side of the blockade in one of the sunni villages we saw a queue of stranded vehicles. these men say all they care about is that isil does not return to cur -- kirkuk. ordinary life in this city is far from normal. this man operates this restaurant and says business is bad. >> translator: i secured my restaurant, but it's the general insecurity and the fighting that is keeping customers away. people are too afraid to venture out. >> reporter: kurdish peshmerga fighters entered kirkuk after the national army abandon its posts seven months ago. in a country where history and past grievances play a key and violent part of the presence kirkuk

stopping them coming into the town of kirkuk. on the front lines outside the city of kirkuk, contact between kurdish peshmerga forces and the islamic state of iraq and the levant is regular. the peshmerga use sandbags as protection. they use a fair amount of incoming fire here. a short distance away, i.s.i.l. positions display their trademark black flag. >> translator: the disarns between us is very small. -- the distance between us is very small. in some places we are only 700 meters poord. apart. they are always trying to push forward. >> the i.s.i.l. forces are relentless. the kurdish fighters have had to adopt sears measures. this is the road that connects kirkuk to baghdad. it is now totally closed. >> translator: we have also captured spice around our positions. we have no intention to reopen this road. >> reporter: in the other side of the blockade, we saw a queue of stranded vehicles. this men say all they care about is that i.s.i.l. does not return to kirkuk. as far as they are concerned it now belongs to them. control o

. >>> battle for kirkuk. oil rich iraqi city. plus. >> i'm lidy dutt. i'll be taking a look at the city facing architectural history. >> we begin this newshour on the latest development on qz8501, airasia, qz8501. debris and bodies have been recovered in the java sea off indonesia. so far dozens of bodies have been seen and be on that their way back to surabaya for identification. qz8501 went down in the java sea on sunday. was carrying 162 passengers and crew on board. few hours ago there were scenes of despair as the family came to grips with the fate of their loved ones. let's now go to scott heidler who i believe can join us from surabaya. so scott we know that the operation to try to recover the wreck and and the bodies are ongoing now. how long do you think that's going to take? sphwhrits a >> reporter: well, it's a 24 hour operation. it's about a thousand kilometers from the airport where the aircraft took off and about 10 kilometers where it dropped off communication with the tower. they are able to focus on that. we know there are two indonesia

they have long coveted kirkuk and regarded it as their capitol.country where past grievances play a key, kirkuk remains a fault line. >>> now syrian activists are reporting government attacks in the northern countryside. air strikes and artillery shells are said to have targeted the town. >>> and syrian activists say around 20 people have been injured in go air strikes on the out skirts of homs. helicopters reportedly dropped three barrel bombs over the town. these are boil drums killed with explosives and metal shap nel. >>> in yemen another city has been seized by houthi rebels. the takeover happened on monday. it is the eighth city the houthis have taken since july when they started to control the province before moving on to the capitol. we have more from the capitol. >> reporter: tens of houthi fighters were deployed to the city, and they stormed the governor's office. now they are in full control of that city. the importance of the province as a whole is that it connects at least three other provinces under houthi control. the importance of

fighter lies on the ground, in a battle south of kirkuk. they should take him prisoner, instead what follows could be called a war crime. a peshmerga states he's still alive. in another video, given by a peshmerga fighter, they're seen dragging the bodies of an i.s.i.l. commander around after the battle. the brigadier general says his fighters do adhere to the conventions regarding prisoners of war. >> as peshmerga we're always trying to operate under international law and protect the lives of soldiers at war. >> reporter: we questioned this. >> that's also true, what often happens is that they ask us to come to them or they approach us in civilian clothes. they then detonate suicide bombs. >> reporter: these peshmerga soldiers based five kilometers south of kirkuk say they are fighting a regular army. ready to blow themselves up killing others nearby, the only dpaitd way to come to kirkuk. the bridge in the distance is now i.s.i.s. front line and this is how close the fighters are to this peshmerga forward position. but this constant flow

won't seize kirkuk and its oil. coalition forces have taken back a lot of territory seized by i.s.i.l. in june. but i.s.i.l. is picking its battles, it needs infrastructure, the group is expected to continue suicide attacks to try to retake key oil installations across northern and central iraq. jane arraf, al jazeera, baghdad. >> there's been an explosion in the lebanese town of afsan near the border with syria. at least one person has been wounded in the blast. meantime, qatar says it won't continue mediation efforts. jean ferguson has more from beirut. >> reporter: now the lebanese government have held security meetings emergency meetings over the weekend to try find out how they can move forward with these mediation efforts. sunni religious leaders have volunteered a proposal that they could go ahead with mediation efforts but the government in lebanon have not made public how they plan to continue with efforts to secure the release of these hostages. now that governmental comes under increasing pressure with su

. >> an isil fighter lice on the ground, captured by kurdish forces in a battle south of kirkuk. they should take him prisoner. instead what follows could be described as a war crime. a peshmerga fighter shouts he's still alive, so the fighter on the left opens fire, then the others follow suit. >> in another video, given to us by a peshmerga fighter, they are seen dragging the bodies of an isil commander and fighters around after the battle. the brigadier general at this peshmerga forward position said his fighters do adhere to conventions rewarding prisoners of war. >> as peshmerga, we are always trying to operate under international law and protect the lives of soldiers at war. >> we challenged it, saying the peshmerga have been filmed filmd killing captured isil fighters. >> that's also true. they ask us to come to them or approach us in civilian clothes, then detonate suicide bombs. >> these peshmerga soldiers south kilometers south of kirkuk said they aren't fighting a regular army. i saw forces will to blow themselves up, and cannot take chances. they are manning the only

offensive on kirkuk city. they were aiming for a weak spot to storm the city and declare the islamic state of kirkuk just like mosul. >> reporter: for almost a century kirkuk has been disput ed territory. the kurds view it as the capitol of an eventual independent state. in june, after the iraqi army melted away after isil advanced in this region, kurdish forces moved in, and there they've stayed. in the past few days the peshmerga have reinforced defenses sending more fighters to the shifting front line. commanders say as muc long as they live and breathe isil will not seize kirkuk or it's oil. in the last month forces have taken back a lot of territory seized by isil in june, but isil is picking its battles. it needs infrastructure to forify its self-declared islamic state the group is expected to continue suicide attacks to retake key oil installations around northern and central iraq. >> in syria dozens of soldiers have been injured after opposition fighters attacked the government headquarters in aleppo.

they man the only gateway to come to kirkuk. the bridge in the distance is the isis front line. this is how close the fighters are to the peshmerga forward position, but this constant flow of people going from kirkuk to their homes makes the fighters here very jumpy. the peshmerga don't know if there are isil sympathyers among them. one man told us that all was well where i live he lived. but once the cameras were turned off he said that there is no life under isil. this image will be damaged if they don't irradicate rogue abuse. >> photographer luke somers was kidnapped in the capitol in 2013. an al-qaeda video said a recent u.s. mission to free hostages had failed. >>> african and arabic countries are meeting to find ways to keep libya stable. the meeting will be another step forwards establishing security in libya. eight of libya's neighbors are meeting in khartoum. they're expected to discuss proposals to stop all groups fighting in libya. >>> the top law enforcer in the u.s. said that there will be an investigation in the death of an african-american man who died while bein

. >> another positive is of now exporting from kirkuk, following an agreement with the kurdish regional government. >> kirkuk functioning once again. >> but not everyone is suffering from the cut in oil price. jordan says it's saving millions because oil is easier to import. >> we think for the last four months, 45 million. >> but he warns it's only a short-term gain. he's worried about lodge-term foreign investments in his country may be affected, and it's the long term that is so difficult to predict. many economists so far are saying that it could take months for prices to recover. erica wood, al jazeera, abu dhabi. >> al jazeera continues to demand the release of our three journalist who is have been in prison in egypt for 359 days. mohamed fahmy, bader mohammed, and peter greste were jailed on false charges of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. all three are appealing against their convictions. >>> still ahead on the program, a member of spain's royal family is under the spotlight over a corruption probe. >>> and india's prime minister is accused of not doing enough to stop m

control of kirkuk is a huge advantage to the kurdish forces. ordinary life in this city is far from normal. the operator of this restaurant says business is bad. >> i secured my restaurant, but it's a general insecurity and fighting keeping customers away. people are too afraid to venture out. >> kurdish peshmerga fighters entered kirkuk after the iraqi national army abandoned its port several months ago. in a country where history and past grievances play a key and violent part of the present kirkuk represents a fault line. for now it remains family in the grip of the kurdish forces. >> muhammed is in erbil iraq this morning. you have spent time with kurdish forces. can they handle isil? >> so far they seem to be and they have been proving themselves to be the most formidable source against isil. not only have they be pushing them back, but have retaken some of the territory isil fighters took from them six or seven months ago. we've been with them and their very disciplined forces, however, they have a very big shortage of arms and ammunition

. >> reporter: in the battle south of kirkuk. they should take him prisoner. but instead what follows is described a war crime. they showed that he is still alive. the one on the right open fires. the others follow suit. another sees body being pulled around. >> at peshmerga we're always trying to operate under international law and protect the lives of soldiers. >> we challenge this saying that peshmerga has been filmed killing captured soldiers. >> that's also true. what often happens is they ask us to help them, the or they approach us in regular clothes and then they detonate themselves. >> isil are ready to blow themselves up killing everybody close by. peshmerga cannot take chances. >> this is how close the fighters are to the peshmerga forward position. but this constant flow of people going from kirkuk back to their homes make fighters here jumpy. >> peshmerga don't know if they're isil supervisors. one man said that all is well, but when we shut off the camera, he said there is no life isi under isil. >> the yemen faction of al-qaeda threatened to exc

the second issue that needs to be addressed i think going forward is the status of kirkuk. we know that the new state of affairs is not going worse. i don't see anybody in among the kurdish leadership arguing for restoring the status quo. what will be the status of kirkuk going forward and how this is settled goes a long way in affecting the attitude especially of the sunnis because these are kurdish authorities. lastly the militias, the shiite militias which are now playing an important role in standing up to isis, but eventually the fear is that they're going to start adopting political agendas that will have to be reckoned with. we had a bad experience with militias that gunned don't get disbanded in the middle east. hezbollah was established in 1982 and hezbollah now is the primary force in lebanon and a sector of lebanese politics. that is a fear among sunni and some shiite of some of the shiite militias which are now playing an important role in fighting isis with political aspirations going forward. the same with the sunnis with militias. the fear being raised, espec

. >> another positive says abdel mahdi is exporting from kirkuk. >> so kirkuk is functioning once again>> but not everyone is suffering from the cut in oil prices. jordan says it's saving millions in energy cost because diesel and oil is cheap tore import. >> -- cheaper to import. >> i think we have saved about 45 million jds. >> the long term foreign investment in his country by big oil producers like saudi and the united arab emirates may be affected. and it's the long term that's so difficult to predict. many economists so far are saying it could take months for prices to recover. erica wood, al jazeera, abu dhabi. >> cristina de bobant sister of king phillipe r phillipe vi e charges of corruption. >>> relationship of the police and the community. up next, new york city's former police commissioner weighs in. >> and oil companies using millions of gallons of water for fracking in california while residents deal with an historic drought. >> welcome back to al jazeera a, i'm michael eaves. new york city mayor bill deblasio is trying to ease tensions. asking the protests against police

the second issue that needs to an dressed going forward is the of kirkuk. we know that the new state of peshmerga inthe control and kirkuk is not going reversed. i don't see anybody arguing for reforring the -- so what will be the status of kirkuk going forward. and how this is settled guess a at tiey affecting the especially of the sunnies. the lastly this phenomenon shiite militias which are now playing an important role in be isis, but to eventually the feel is they'ring about to start developing agendas that will have to be reckoned with. withd a bad experience militias that don't get disbanded in the middle oos. established in 1982 and hezbollah now is the lebanon and the politics. lebanese i think there is a fear among political elites militiaof these shiite militias, are starting to develop these political aspirations going forward. the same thing with the sunnies, knew that ison being grazed about especially in baghdad,ke basra and but the national guards and the formed can become the focal point for creating a militias to stand up .gainst the shiit

the second issue that needs to be addressed i think going forward is the status of kirkuk. we know that the new state of affairs is not going worse. i don't see anybody in among the kurdish leadership arguing for restoring the status quo. what will be the status of kirkuk going forward and how this is settled goes a long way in affecting the attitude especially of the sunnis because these are kurdish authorities. lastly the militias, the shiite militias which are now playing an important role in standing up to isis, but eventually the fear is that they're going to start adopting political agendas that will have to be reckoned with. we had a bad experience with militias that gunned don't get disbanded in the middle east. hezbollah was established in 1982 and hezbollah now is the a ary force in lebanon and sector of lebanese politics. that is a fear among sunni and some shiite of some of the shiite militias which are now playing an important role in fighting isis with political aspirations going forward. the same with the sunnis with militias. the fear being raised, especiall

kirkuk is functioning once again. not everyone is suffering from the cut in oil prices. jordan says it's saving millions in energy, because diesel and oil is cheaper to import. >> i think for the last four months we save 45 million. >> reporter: he warns it's a short-term gain. big oil producers may be affected. it's the long term that is so difficult to predict. many economists are saying that it could take months for prices to recover >>> and as oil prices continue to drop, some americans are spending more to heat their homes. many families in new england are struggling to stay warm. "real money"s correspondent explains why. >> reporter: this is one of millions of americans who heat their homes with natural gas. half of all u.s. households do. >> i used to do it with orrial. i made the switch. >> she was drawn to natural gas. while newly released government data predicts the bills will drop by $800, her savings may not be as high. the reason distribution, not enough gas can get to the area. >> the squiggly blue lines on the map show all the lines to the north-east. by

the kurdish regional government. >> so kirkuk is functioning once again. >> reporter: not everyone isfering from the cut in oil prices. jordan said it's saving millions because diesel and oil is cheaper to import. >> we saved, i think, for the last four months, about 45 million. >> he warns it's a short-term gain. it's worried the long-term foreign investment in his country by big oil producers like saudi and the united arab emirates may be affected. it's the long-term hard to predict. economists are saying it could take months for prices to recover. erica woods, al jazeera, ab abu dhabi. >> saudi arabia's strategy is having repercussions. olympic members like venzuela and iran need oil to trade above $100 a barrel to funneled their budget did, or they face severe cash shortfalls. the same goes for russia, which is not a member of opec. mez are dividing why the saudis will be content to left oil prices fall. saying they may be using it as a political weapon to affect pain opinion it's rivals. others are adamant that they are letting prices drop for purely economic reasons to protect i

not least with the disputed areas of kirkuk that still need to be reconciled.but this is the direction i hope we continue down. >> what remains british's interest. >> i think it's difficult to say we want to see british companies flo flourish there, we want a safe environment for are international companies to operate and we want to see the oil move to parts of the world and not have legal question marksover whether or not it can be indeed purchased, and that's taking place. i think we're heading in the right direction. >> as you know, iraq and kurdistan is sitting on a lot of gas, in fact a huge amount of gas. if we piped up into europe, it would address the overreliance on russia's supplies. is there any role for britain in facilitating that? >> i think this is something that is worth investigating and worth further discussions and something i think the embassy may have some thoughts on this. but certainly, you're right to say that the potential for -- in northern iraq is actually huge, it's a lot of it is untapped and i think it will help the country for man

. >> so kirkuk is functioning once again. >> reporter: but not everyone suffering from the cut in oil prices. jordan says it's saving millions in energy cost because diesel and oil is cheaper to import. >> we saved i think for the last four months about 45 million jds. >> but he warns it's only ashort term gain, the long term foreign investment in his country by big oil producers saudi and united arab emirates may be affected. in the long term it's so difficult to predict, many economists say it couldatic take months for the economy to recover. eartha wood, al jazeera, abu dhabi. >>> the latest far right protest, by a group called islamist west. in doing so it's managed to attract the attention of people who wouldn't normally focus on the right. the threat of what it calls radical islam. al jazeera's nick spicer joins us from dresden. any trouble? >> minor scuffles with our camera crew witnessed when two counter-demonstrators tried to speak out during the demonstration and they were punched and man handled and brought out of the crowd. it was a hostile safe to say crowd to the media.

. >> just after dawn, naturalist luke de grute is out, trapping the battle for kirkuk.city. first, living under the shadow of gang violence, we lose one

. >> an isil fighter lice on the ground captured by kurdish forces in a battle saw the of kirkuk. they should take him prisoner. instead that follows could be scribbled as a war trial, a perve fighter shouts he's still alive, so the fighter on the left opens fire, then the others follow suit. in another video, given to us by a peshmerga fighter, they are seen dragging isil bodies around. >> as peshmerga, we are always trying to operate under international law, and protect the lives of soldiers at war. >> we challenged this, saying the peshmerga have been filmed killing captured isil fighters. >> what often happens is they ask us to come to them or approach us in civilian clothes and detonate suicide bombs. >> these peshmerga soldiers south of kirkuk say they aren't fighting a regular early. isil forces are ready to blow themselves up, killing all those close by so they cannot take chances. >> the bridge in the distance is now the isis front line. this is how close the fighters are to this peshmerga forward position, but this constant flow of people going from kirkuk back to their

the car, we've done over the past couple days we struck targets just in iraq in mosul, al qa'im, kirkuk, so we are -- to say we're extremely serious about this, we're offensive minded and taking the fight to isil every single however. >> would we be in a better position -- i'm playing monday morning quarterback, would we have been in a better position to leave troops in iraq instead of pulling them out? >> i'll let the historians sort that out. there's a lot that went into those decisions, but i'm really focussed on where we are right now. >> well, you pretty much answered the question for me and i know you have a fine line to walk, but there's no doubt in my mind, we left there way too soon. it was the president's agenda. and now he realizes that we're up against -- our backs are up against the wall here. with that i yield back my time. >> if i could say real quick. >> please. >> it's significant to point out we left in 2011 under an agreement in 2008 and one issue from the moment we invaded iraq is that we invaded iraq. we weren't invited into iraq. what is significant about right now

peshmerga forces advance near to the mountains fighting has also inning tess identified southwest of kirkukforces have managed to cut isil supply lines to the farms on the outskirts of the town. they want to retake more areas north of the city. as the fighting continues more iraqi civilians become victims and moorehouses become vacant. al jazerra. >>> one of iran's senior commanders happen been killed in iraq. they say the general was killed north of baghdad. where he was advising iraqi troops and shia volunteers. >>> we are approaching a grim anniversary, in just a few hours, three al jazerra journalists will have been in prison in egypt for a fuel her our colleagues were arrested on december 29th, 2013, they were falsely accused of aiding the outlawed muslim brotherhood and damaging egypt's reputation abroad, they say they were just doing their jobs as journalist >>> a presidential election as taken place in a midst a deep economic slump. the role is mostly ceremonial. and the incumbent is expected to earn a second term. but if not there will be a run-off election. >>> heavy snowfall has

. >> so kirkuk is beining functioning once again. >> millions in energy cost because diesel and oil is cheaper to import. >> we saved for the last four months is about 45 million. >> but he warns it is only a short term gain, he's worried the long term foreign investment in his country by the big producers like saudi and united arab emirates is difficult to predict. many economists are saying it could take months for prices to recover. >> let's go to erica wood now. saudi arabia and uae are confident of opec's action he but just how low are they expecting pricings to get? >> reporter: well, depends entirely who you talk to. if you talk to the arab ministers they are very positive about the whole market. but of course much of the oil industry is based on speculation. if you speak positively about the market one would hope you would get positive results in the markets the other end. hasn't really happened yet. there's certainly been no rebound when you are looking at the print oil prices. economists are slightly more pessimistic. many of them are saying it's taken six months to get to th

fighting intensified south-west of kirkuk. >> iraqi forces managed to cut supply lines, and they want to retake more areas. as the fighting continues, more iraqi civilians become victims and houses vacant. >> back at home the new york city police commissioner is giving support to bill de blasio. he criticized cops for turning his backs on the mayor when he spoke at officer rafael ramos's funeral service. rafael ramos and his partner were killed in a shooting last week. the police commissioner spoke out on "meet the nation." . >> i don't support that action that funeral was held to honour officer rafael ramos, it is reflective of the feelings of some of our officers that at this juncture. not just about the mayor, but the issues that are afflicting the city at this time. the commissioner noted that despite the shooting of officer rafael ramos and his partner, crime is at a low, adding that his department's 2015 budget will allow for training officer's safety and advances in technology. we are learning the spokesman for the ferguson, missouri is on unpaid leave after calling the memoria

fighting has intensified south-west of kirkuk. >> back in the area iraqi armed forces managed to cut i.s.i.l. supply lines to the farm on the outskirts of the up to. they want to retake more areas north of samarra city. as the fighting continues, more become victims and more houses vacant. >> boko haram, which terrorized parts of nigeria is reaching across the border into niger. dominic kane filed this report. >> reporter: a small boat heads for a small village in niger, near the frontier of nigeria. people on board are anxious, because boko haram is active here. it's threat to destroy western education forced schools to close. in the one that is still open, the teachers are frightened. >> they kill teachers because they don't like the education they teach. it's hard to know what people they are. that's why i'm really scared. if the water was not here they would have taken us. until now, they have been stuck on the other side. i really fear that they will come across at any time. >> reporter: only 20 students remain now from a register of more than 300. in the wider community, there

to the kurdish people of northern iraq by claiming responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack in kirkukce say 17 people were killed. 22 people wounded. the curd's peshmerga military has been holding them at bay in northern iraq and sent fight attorneys help defend the kurdish city of kobani in northern syria. meantime, isis also claims responsibility for two car bombings in the shiite stronghold of sadr city in baghdad. those attacks left at least 21 dead and 69 people wounded. >>> anti-terrorism officials in chechnya say a special operation to neutralize militants is over. the militant as tacked a police post and other targets in grozny. security forces recovered eight bodies. reports say ten officer died. this came just before vladimir putin's annual state of the union address. >>> and that speech makes patriotism with anger toward the west which mr. putin blames for russia's economic woes. our senior international correspondent matthew chance has more. [ speaking a foreign language ] >> reporter: his country is under international sanctions, its economy in freefall. but vladimir puti

the group claims responsen't for a suicide car bomb in kirkuk. 17 people were killed and 22 wounded. the kurds military has been instrumental in holding isis at bay in northern iraq. and it's even sent fighters to help defend the kurdish city of kobani in northern syria. isis also claims responsibility for two car bombings in the shiite strong hold of a baghdad neighborhood. those attacks left at least 21 dead and 69 wounded. >> well, kobani has been under siege by isis militants for months now. and most residents have fled for safety. but some do remain, despite the constant violence there. kobani feels haunted by those who are still alive in it. inhumane enough that the coalition war planes above is a strange comfort. the destruction so near complete the fight is more now for victory alone, not for its spoils. hereby here they' even given up on hospitals. this, the last one flattened by a car bomb. you can see with month months has done. in the near future, still, the fighting persists. the shelling, almost constant, so much of it caused by crude homemade devices like this. childre

this solution, the kurdistan region will export about 550,000 barrels a day. 300 barrels coming from kirkuk. that's a controversial part of the landscape. but taking oil from those fields and exporting it through the north, through the kurdistan region and turkey about 300,000 from kirkuk, all of that revenue will come into the central account and 17% will go to the kurdistan region. this is a breakthrough accord. another part is that $1 billion within the new government will go to the kurdish. the first time the iraqi government very clearly saying we will fund our brave kurdish fighters who are fighting alongside us against isil. this is a big deal. it's a breakthrough. now, will there be problems in implementation moving forward? yes. we have to work through those and the iraqis as well. it's a significant sign they got this done. it's a very hopeful moment. i was on the phone with the iraqi leadership in baghdad with the kurdish leadership very shortly after and there was a really a mood of tremendous optimism, something i have not heard in some time and i worked on this specific issue

the car, we've done over the past couple days we struck targets just in iraq in mosul, al qa'im, kirkuk, so we are -- to say we're extremely serious about this, we're offensive minded and taking the fight to isil every single however. >> would we be in a better position -- i'm playing monday morning quarterback, would we have been in a better position to leave troops in iraq instead of pulling them out? >> i'll let the historians sort that out. there's a lot that went into those decisions, but i'm really focussed on where we are right now. >> well, you pretty much answered the question for me and i know you have a fine line to walk, but there's no doubt in my mind, we left there way too soon. it was the president's agenda. and now he realizes that we're up against -- our backs are up against the wall here. with that i yield back my time. >> if i could say real quick. >> please. >> it's significant to point out we left in 2011 under an agreement in 2008 and one issue from the moment we invaded iraq is that we invaded iraq. we weren't invited into iraq. what is significant about right now

went from kobane, syria, through the group's makeshift capital in raqqa, on to sinjar, iraq, near kirkukd in mosul, iraq's second-largest city. and a prize the group took in june, forcing out the iraqi army while barely firing a shot. on wednesday gwen ifill spoke with jurgen todenhoffer, a german author and former lawmaker who'd recently spent ten days within the islamic state area of control. >> ifill: you spent time in iraq and in syria, in raqqa and in mosul. was there a difference in what you saw in those two places? >> here, i only can give an impression. i had the impression that, in mosul, their support is stronger, and that in raqqa, bashar al-assad is still at least as strong as i.s. he is still playing, paying salaries to his people in raqqa and it seems to work. >> ifill: so, what were your impressions about how strong isis is? there is some debate here and around the world about the scope of the islamic state forces, whether it functions as a government, whether it has a justice system and what its ultimate goal is. what impressions did you take away? >> i got the impression

fields and exporting it through the north, through the curd stan region and turkey about 300,000 from kirkuk, all of that revenue will come into the central account and 17% will go to the curd stan region. this is a breakthrough accord. another part is that $1 billion within the new government will go to the kurdish. the first time the iraqi government very clearly saying we will fund our brave kurdish fighters who are fighting alongside us against isil. this is a big deal. it's a breakthrough. now, will there be problems in implementation moving forward? yes. we have to work through those and the iraqis as well. it's a significant sign they got this done. it's a very hopeful moment. i was on the phone with the iraqi leadership in baghdad with the kurdish leadership very shortly after and there was a really a mood of tremendous optimism, something i have not heard in some time and i worked on this specific issue for a period of years. so i think your questions are very insightful one and i think the oil agreement is just indicative of where we are in iraq and the foundation that we've built.

the car, we've done over the past couple days we struck targets just in iraq in mosul, al qa'im, kirkukso we are -- to say we're extremely serious about this, we're offensive minded and taking the fight to isil every single however. >> would we be in a better position -- i'm playing monday morning quarterback, would we have been in a better position to leave troops in iraq instead of pulling them out? >> i'll let the historians sort that out. there's a lot that went into those decisions, but i'm really focussed on where we are right now. >> well, you pretty much answered the question for me and i know you have a fine line to walk, but there's no doubt in my mind, we left there way too soon. it was the president's agenda. and now he realizes that we're up against -- our backs are up against the wall here. with that i yield back my time. >> if i could say real quick. >> please. >> it's significant to point out we left in 2011 under an agreement in 2008 and one issue from the moment we invaded iraq is that we invaded iraq. into iraq. invited what is significant about right now and this was

. >> i know that there is a framework for an election on the status of kirkuk.nter that studies that issue closely. i don't think that's so insurmountable, i think they could come to an agreement on a border, or some kind of oil share. they agreed this week on some kind of oil sharing. i don't see why they couldn't come to a comparable agreement on the border. >> okay, two reasons. there are many other reasons. i just pick the easier one from my standpoint to rebut your argument. those are the borders. boy, if they could come with some group from georgetown or flying in to fix this, that would be the first time in my 40 years of experience, and maybe we can threin robert's 30 years of experience in conflicts all around the world from cashmere to cypress, where somebody has fixed a border. the problem is particularly in violent destabilized regions, people identify with their own kind. whether we like it or not. and those are mixed areas with christians, azitis, kurds, shia aybar, sunni arabs, they all have their own agendas. all of the groups think each other's