on the first line, about 1000's, and that he was going to put about 1000 virginia militia soldiers on the first line, and then the third was going to be his strongest troops, the continental soldiers. this is a map, a copy of a map, drawn by a british engineer following the battle of guilford courthouse, depicting the battle of guilford courthouse, and what we have is the reddish troops coming onto the field at the bottom and then we have the first, second, and third american lines, and the first line was made up of north carolina militia, and then the open court feels, and the second line was made up of virginia militia, and they are within the woods, the heavyweights, and then the third line was made up of the continental, and they face the open field, and the british moved forward and attacked the first line, and then the first line pulled back from the battle and ran away, for the most part, and then the british moved on to the second line, and the second line made a stance and there were british moving forward, and it was the 23rd regiment, the 71st regiment and they had a pretty

the first line was made of the norcal on a militia. the second line was made up of virginia militia. it was in the heavy woods. the third line was made up of the continental. they faced open field, some weights and a deep ravine. the british attacked the first line. the first line pulled back from the battle and ran away, for the most part. then the british moved on to the second line. the second line made a stand. there were british moving forward, it was the 23rd regiment, the guards, the 71st regiment. they had a heavy firefight at the second line. then they pulled back and the british moved up to the third line to attack the continentals on the third line. we are now standing at the third minefield -- line field. the american army was posted on this ridgeline. two cannons anchored the flanks of the americans. the british came from that direction there and came across the field and attacked the americans, charged up the hill. the second regiment fled. the first got into hand-to-hand combat with the british. the american calvary came

on the hands of these militia and hand these into the hands of the sunnis rather than the militia. >> thank you very much, talking to us live from london, thank you very much. >> to mexico now where the parents of the 43 missing students have arrived in gee. they're dissatisfied with the response of the mexican government and bringing their case to the united nations. barnaby phillips reports from geneva. >> united in silence for the missing students from iguala, a mexican government allegation, human rights workers and some of the parents of the students. this man clingion to the belief that his son is still alive. >> yes really, we do. we believe that our children are still alive and that's why we carry on fighting. >> the government has not said to us here are your children, here are their remains and that's why we continue to believe they're alive. >> the scale of police and government corruption that this case has revealed and the degree of collusion with criminal gangs is a source of disgust. >> the u.n. committee will make recommendation to say push or shame the mexican govern

libyan militias. in the central city. lahn taylor this is al jazeera live from london, also coming up. >> fighting goes on despite the cease fire in ukraine where pro-russian separatist surrounded the key town. >> in the debt stand off with the euro zone. and a carnival turns to tragedy in haiti with several people killed bay low han

one of their first martyrs was the son of a prime militia dr prime badr corps militias celebrated by the badr organization and his son was somehow killed fighting for khatab addar shul ha dechlt ab which believes in the same concepts which just kind of came out of nowhere in early 2013. and this is kind of the connection that they have. i guess going past that we have baasay al hak. i'm sure a lot of people remember these groups. they efp'ed american soldiers, they killed a lot of coalition forces and also some of these guys wrt force into iraq. and actually the interesting thing what they would do was go to iran and take a syrian air flight into damascus, unload. they'd be wearing their sievies. they'd get off the plane. everything was fine. they'd pick up a rifle and go and fight. and they were not even hiding this earlier when they were coming into that country. they were not hiding the flights. they were openly advertising it on very easily accessible facebook pages which is kind of shocking. makes you really think about this. was that an op-sec fail on their part or was it somet

hud is a coordinate with the other militias -- how do they coordinate with the other militias?> i think the numbers of the iraqi security force are in the report. the snapshot view was around 48,000 for the iraqi army. a significantly higher number for moi. nowhere near what they were speaking of the isf capability in 2009 or before isis in 2014. the main thing is how many active forces do they have that are capable of moving and undertaking offense of operations? it is a remarkably small number. it is probably one armored division and special forces. well under 10,000 guys. mpu's are probably able to throw -- pmu's are probably able to throw more forces than the iraq he army can. they have more mobile capability than the entire iraqi army the ministry of the interior and another group put together in terms of people who can actually move to a battlefield. >> in terms of hezbollah serving as advisors and working with the syrian army, they came in in the advisory role. now it has taken on more of a command-style role. if you juxtapose it to iraq they are taking leadership roles

he says the country has been abandoned to militias. we cannot ignore the human cost of this latest conflict. these scenes from a hospital. we don't know how many civilians have been killed by egyptian strikes, but we are told children are among the dead. for more on this let's bring in the former u.s. assistant secretary of defense and senior fellow of the center of american progress. he joins us live from washington washington, d.c. we have this new push from the militia to the tripoli-lead government will they be able to take on isil? how successful can they be? >> i think they can be successful but that's not the long-term solution to the problem in libya. we have to get stability there, so you don't allow groups like isis to come in. >> all right. how do you get stability at this point when you have so many different fronts taking on each other. >> you need a u.n.-sponsored peace keeping force for example like we had in the bakkens. and i think the lesson for this for the international community, it's one thing to get rid of a gove

the fight has been led by one of iraq's major shia militias, the badr corps. the group is ready to move into isil's other strongholds including mosul. >> the u.n. high court said north korea asia nor serb i can't committed genocide. the claims by both countries claimed ethnic cleansing during the 1990's conflict. >> israel's prime minister has called on the u.n. to scrap its inquiry into alleged war crimes during the conflict in gaza in 2014. benjamin netanyahu made the comments following the resignation of the head of the inquiry after he was accused of being biased. >> the remains of 30 people from the yazidi ethnic community have been discovered in a mass grave in northwestern iraq. kurdish forces found the bodies of men women and children. we have more frow from erbil. >> yet another mass grave was found in the sinjar area in the northwest of iraq along the syrian border. peshmerga fighters were clearing the area from explosives, booby-trapped explosives and they discovered this grave and they are believed to be from the yazidi community men women and chil

iraqi military does not like militia. it never did. it doesn't like, i think, having to operate alongside the pmu's, even though it recognizes they have contributed blood, sweat and tears to stopping isil's advance. i have to give them that, absolutely. they deserve our respect as fighting men to some respect. and many of them deserve our full respect as fighting men because they have given everything, including their lives, to bring isis to a halt. but the institution that they're part of, and the forces that sit behind these often very good fighting men, we need to look at extremely closely. luckily, i think a lot of senior iraqi leaders agree with the u.s. that they are a threat. and luckily, we have seen in many cases in the past the iraqi shiite vote for iraq rather than vote for sectarianism and vote for iran. for instance, iran-iraq war. not really a shimmer of an uprising against the iraqi state during the iran-iraq war. hundreds of thousands of shiite serving in the front lines. likewise basra. by and large, they believe in th

and the organization compared to other militia, they don't want to be called militia, is in dispute. some spokespeople have around 25,000. although they expect that. it's indisputable that in the war against i.s.i.l. militias played a leading role. in diyala it's been the better. after eradicating most of diyala along with the security forces basically it's a big party, and to hammer home the point that this iranian backed group held it in their base somewhere that used to be the home of an iranian group. we spoke of umrey who told that basically the fighting was just the beginning. >> bit the will of god as we liberate diyala we liberate kirkuk and mosul, and liberate anbar. and we will defeat the vicious gangs in the land of iraq. at the will of those gangs will be broken on the will of the iraqi people >>> what are the prospects of an offensive in mosul or anbar with a large presence. >> they would like nothing better and the head of the organization, and the militia that plays a crucial role tells us that they were ready to work the tribe, go into mosul, and he said that no forei

so if you look at this have to focus on the actual militias which militias are really going, send people to syria. there's a lot of confusion about what else i was doing. the firebrand cleric, this terrible guy, a bomb americans killed americans when we are in iraq but this kind of a great area when it comes to this. the great area is the worst thing because there's a lot of things going on on like to try to say that china is fully aside them in street. but there's also evidence to say that maybe sadr did donate a few people to fight ensued. we just don't know. but for the most part there a lot of people what we would call splinters. factor in the iraq war when we were there, a problem happen with sadr what he was trying to maintain the army invested work out so well. he pushed back against the iranians. not a great idea and so what do they do must be encouraged these splits in the tried to build separate organizations. the interesting thing as i stood this research i tried to look up people who helped form this group. this network, the initial core of commanders almost all of them were

to pay their militias. so the idea is you cut off that stream of revenue, freeze the assets, put sanctions on individuals who are known to be attacking civilian facilities. and that will somehow end the conflict. there's a lot of operational questions. because most of the central bank assets are hold in europe. and my sense is that the europeans are a little reluctant to do that. the question of a u.n. intervention force. this is often heralded as a silver bullet. send in the u.n. there's real questions about the mandate, who would pay for such a force. where it would be deployed in libya. there's been work about the numbers of troops you would -- combined, they have a population of 3 million. and by some calculations, you would need about 30000 troops to actually secure those areas. again, a u.n. resolution, intervention force is not the panacea. my hope i just got back from the city of misrata, the central port city in the west which fields the most powerful militias on the dawn side. this is a business c

in diyala shia militias believe sunni militias supported the group. in this village houses and the mosque were left in ruins after fighting between the iraqi forces and i.s.i.l. shia militia said after the battle they had liberated the remainder of diyala held by the group. >> a survivor told us that he and the others ran to the field and hid in the mud after they opened fire. the village is surrounded and running out of food. the prime minister is trying to contain the fallout, telling the conference that those responsible would be punished. >> those conducting killing and assault on properties areas liberated from i.s.i.l. are no less dangerous than terrorists. >> the government is upped pressure to prove it is in control, and not its partners. iraqi government forces and the kurds and militias have taken back a lot of territory from i.s.i.l. over the last few months. some of the fooerest fighting is in volatile areas. along the fault lines of ethnic rivalry and sectarian ambition. it led the government grappling with how to win a war but keep the c

it's the base of a shia militia. its mission is to keep the area clear of isil fighters and prepare for an assault on tikrit. she that militias are backed by ran and made up of civilians. some are accused of revenge attacks against sunnis in the areas they have taken from isil, an allegation this commander denies. >> i'm a civil engineer, and i've answered the holy call from the grand ayatollah. i am a witness to everything that has taken place here and i can tell you that hasn't happened. >> for now this shia militia wait and wonder what resistance they'll face when attacked. tikrit has long been a stronghold of rebels, although isil say they control the town itself in actual fact, it's a group of sadaam loyalists in control. he was born that in town. they don't necessarily share the same goals as isil in establishing the islamic caliphate but want regime change here in iraq and should note rule. >> when isil and the sunni rebels wee sieged this area in mid june, amerli became the focal point. it took plea months to

on the militia peace, we have a concern. -- on the militia piece, we have a concern.ell it is true they have not effectively in some cases, they have galvanized sectarian tensions. that's counterproductive. our view of how this needs to work if it is going to succeed, the iraqi government has to be multi-sectarian. all elements of iraqi society need to feel protected and part of the iraqi state. to the extent the shia militia has exacerbated tensions, we consider that a problem. >> iran. nuclear negotiations. where does it stand? >> i think you know we have had a number of rounds. we just finished one yesterday in geneva. there has been some progress. some of the issues are being worked through. i have to tell you there are significant gaps that remain. >> like what? >> i'm not going to get into the details. i don't think that will be productive. let me explain the categories of issues we need to work through. there is iran's enrichment capacity. what will it be allowed to retain? how can we be certain that whatever they retain is fully transparent? the international

shia militia did are made up of civilians.e have been accused of revenge attacks in the areas they have taken from isil. an allegation this commander denies. >> i am a civil engineer. i have answered the holy call from the grand ayatollah ali ali sistani. i am a witness to everything that has taken place here and i can tell you that hasn't happened. >> for now this militia wait and wonder what resistance they will face when they event tack. tickrid rita has been a stronghold of anti-gouchlt sunni rebels but isil say they control the town. but it's the nukshaba army that are in control. they are a group of saddam hussein loyalists. he was born in that town. they don't necessarily share the same goals as isil in the establishing the islamic caliphate but they want regime change here in iraq and sunni rule. >> when they besieged this area in mid-june it was this town that became the focal point of a fighting. it took three months to break the siege, an evidence of how tough a fight it was is everywhere. >> the seeming lasted arou

iraqi military doesn't like militia. they don't like having to operate alongside even though they don't recognize that they have not contributed blood sweat and tears to stopping isil's advance. i have to give them back. they deserve the respect and many of them deserve the full respect as fighting men because they've given everything including their lives to bring to a halt that the institution that they are part of into the forces that sit behind these often times we need to look extremely closely. luckily they vote for iraq rather than be sectarian as an antidote for iran. for instance the iran iraq war is an uprising against the iraqi state. hundreds of thousands serving the front lines. they could become abu dhabi if they wanted to, but they believe in the iraqi state even though they've had a pretty shocking bill from its particularly over the last decade. he recognized even though he did it for his own political benefit that he needed to cut the legs out from underneath before they took the crown jewel. it is bein

the iranians are supporting the militia? >> our concern is often the militia are acting in a sectarian fashion. are engaged in the kind of violence against civilians that we think is not only reprehensible but counterproductive. that is a problem. it is a problem we have very clearly signaled to the iraqis and iranians. >> are you ok they are doing it? >> we are not ok with support to militia we think are fueling conflict. >> whatever they are doing, they are being very effective on the ground against isil. >> there are different pieces. this support to the iraqi government. we are doing our part with the iraqi government. other countries are supporting the iraqi government. as long as those are not working at cross purposes, we take the view the iraqi government is a sovereign nation and can invite support from countries it chooses. we are not coordinated with the iranians on the ground are communicating in any way about operations. the iraqi government, as the sovereign, is working with us and our partners and is working w

>> our concern about support of the militia is often the militia are acting in a sectarian fangs and engaged in the kind of violence against civilians we think is not only reprehensible but counterproductive, that is a problem and a problem we have very clearly signaled both to the iraqis and the iranians. >> charlie: but are you okay they're doing it? >> no we're not okay with support to militia we think are fueling the conflict. >> charlie: but whatever they're doing, they're being very effective on the ground against i.s.i.l. >> well, there are different pieces to this. there's the support that has been provided to the iraqi government the iraqi government is taking the fight to i.s.i.l and we're doing our part with the iraqi government, other countries are supporting the iraqi government and as long as those are not working at cross purposes we take a the view the iraqi government as sovereign can invite support from countries it chooses and we are not coordinating with the iranians on the ground we are not communicating any way shape or form about operations. the iraqi governmen

the second line was makeup of virginia militia in the woods. the third line was made up of the continentals. they faced open fields and some would --woods. the british moved forward and attacked the first line and then the first line pulled back from the battle, and ran away for the most part. then the british moved on to the second line, and the second line made a stand. there were british moving forward, and it was the 23rd regiment the 71st regiment, and they had a heavy firefight at the second line. then they pulled back and the british moved up to the third line. to attack the continentals on the third line. we are now standing at the third line field. the american army was posted on this line. the two cannons anchored the flanks of the americans. the british came from that direction there, across the field and attacked the americans , charged up the hill. the second regiment fled, the first maryland regiment guy into hand-to-hand combat with the bidders. while they did that, the american caverly came in and swooped on the british and had

militia militiamen say they are heading to a city. militia want to tackle isil affiliated groups there themselves and are against the intervention that killed civilians on monday when egypt struck training bases and weapons storage areas. >> translator: we strongly condom the egyptian aggression on the city of duma and consider it to be a violation of our libyan sovereignty. we also condemn the terrorist attack that targeted a number of egyptian nationals in libya. >>> >> reporter: libia's political leadership is fractured. egypt is calling for a u.n. resolution to intervene in libya. it's not just egypt that is concerned about unravelling security. the european union is planning to hold talks with the united states and egypt on how to deal with groups linked to isil. >> it is clear that it is a complex situation. so far it has been so mainly for the migration routes. now obviously there is another dimension that should push all of the sides inside libya to realize that daesh is a threat to the entire country, so all of the libyans an

we succeeded, thanks to god. >> these militia fighters regular afighting exercises. they are confident they will prevail. they say they don't need any international help. >> despite that, isil controls huge swaths much territory and are proving difficult to push back. >> i want to bring you some breaking news we just received on the wire because it's reported that the islamic state of iraq in the levan has released a video that has said to show the killing of 21 egyptian christians in libya. you might remember 21 christian copts were kidnapped back in december and the latest we are hearing something that isil has purported lee released a video showing the kill of those 21 egyptian christians. we will bring you more on that breaking news just as soon as we get it. >>> just over a week until the retrial of two al jazeera journalists in egypt. they were released on bail last week after 411 days in jail. their previous conviction was was thrown out. they are charged with coludding with the banned muslim brother. al jazeera is calling on the court to release the case and

charlie: these were militias that were already in place, shia militias that had been engaged in iraq before. mike: many of them, but not all of them. charlie: so they are new. and how is iran contributing to their effort? mike: they are funding training, equipping, providing strategic guidance and technical ravens -- tactical guidance on the ground as well. so we stopped the expansion in iraq, but within the sunni areas of iraq and the sunni areas of syria isis has consolidated its position over the last six months. what does that mean? it means that six months ago, they could not control all of that territory. now, they pretty much do. there were some towns they didn't control. they've taken those over. they've consolidated their position. that's one thing that's happened. the other thing that's happened is, we've seen their ideology spread in two different directions. one is to young people in western, canada, australia, and the united states. people who had become radicalized. we've seen what they've done in paris, sydney, denmark, new york with the hatchet attack on two new york

from there, they say, groups of men were taken away and shot by militia members.he survivor now in a nearby city tells us the men went willingly at first. >> the army took our identification and then gathered us together and we saw the other forces all dressed in black, and they opened fire. >> there are few prisoners in this fight against is ill. in diala, shia militias believe sunni iraqis here have supported the group in the village of smyra, houses and the mosque were left in ruins after fighting last week between iraqi forces and is ill. shia militia leaders said after the battle they had liberated the remainder of diala held by the group. >> once survivor told us by phone he and the others ran to the fields and hid in the mud all night after they opened fire. he said the village still surrounded and running out of food. iraqi's prime minister is trying to contain the fallout. he told the national conference that those responsible would be punished. >> those who are conducting killings and assaults on property in areas liberated from is ill are no less danger

shia militias are making gains. in the south and north-west of the country, some have been accused of killing sunni civilians. al jazeera is given exclusive access for one of the groups as it prepares for an assault. imran khan reports from zagr. >> 35km behind the valley is tikrit city and surrounding areas. it's under the control of the islamic state of iraq and levant. this is the front line marked by a tributely of the euphrates river. it's the base of a shia militia, one of many fighting in this area. it's mission is to keep the area clear of i.s.i.l. fighters and prepare for assault on tikrit. shia militias are backed by iran made up of civilians, not soldiers. some have been accused of revenge attacks against sunnis. allegations that this commander denies. >> translation: in part i am a witness to everything that has taken place. i can tell you that has not hopped. >> reporter: for now they wait and wonder what resistance they face when they attack. >> tikrit has been a stronghold of anti-government sunni reb

shia militias in iraq made gains in the south and northwest against isil, but some have been accused of killing soon any civilians. >> this is mainly under the control of islamic state of iraq and the levant. this is the front line marked by a tributary of the euphrates river. it's the base of a shia militia it's mission to keep the area clear of isil fighters and prepare for a attack on tikrit. some have been accused of a revenge attack on sunnis, an allegation this commander denies. >> i'm part of the popular mobilization forces. i'm a witness to everything that has taken place here and i can tell you that hasn't happened. >> for now the shia militia wait and wonder what they will face when they eventually attack. also isil say they control tikrit in actually fact, it is the army really in control. they're a group of sadaam hussein latists and he was bosch in that town. they don't necessarily share the same gomes as isil in establishing the slack caliphate but do want regime change here in iraq and sunni rule. >> in mid june, this town became the focal point of fighting. it took th

. >> also on the program the shia militia in iraq has pushed isil from a key province and preparing to target other strongholds. >> anti terrorist police are on the alert in france and knifemen attack soldiers guard ago jewish center. >> british m.p.s are the first to give the go ahead for a controversial technique. now doctors are closer to creating a baby with three parents. >> now video released by the islamic state of iraq and the levant purportedly shows members killing a captive jordanian pilot. he was taken by the group in december after his jet crashed in syria. a message from isil said the pilot would be killed if jordan didn't release an iraqi woman facing the death approximately. the death comes days after the group released a video purportedly showing members killing a june knees journalist. >> let's talk now, thank you for joining us here. if it's true, it's a terrible and tragic development. what do you make of it? >> >> it is a brutal execution by any organization to burn a hostage alive, we have never seen anything like this. we don't know the circumstances. we don't kn

a powerful shia militia tells al jazeera it's ready to attack them in the iraqi strong holds. hello and welcome to al jazeera live from doha. also on the program the head of a u.n. inquiry into a 2014 gaza war quit after being accused for bias. >> it's right for me to be free then it's right for them all to be free. >> in his first interview after being freed from an egyptian jail, peter greste calls for the release of his al jazeera colleagues. >>> music prodigy in the u.s. >>> hello. more on all those stories but first, breaking news out of cairo. blast which exploded in a busy square. two bombs were discovered by police that's according to the reuters news s.a.t. agency. key iraqi province of dyalla. the group held a victory rally on monday and they are ready to move into i.s.i.l. strong holds. jane arraf joins me from baghdad. what was the significance of this celebration? >> well, that really was part of it that that wasn't the iraqi government. it shows how powerful these shia groups have become. they don't want to be called be publishmilitias. the badr organization is o

we have seen a push to take on isil on the ground in libya by militia there. now libya calling for u.n.'s help. how is that that playing out? >> a big diplomatic push by egypt. he is having a series of meetings are diplomats. i'm told he is going to be meeting arab ambassadors later in the day, and meeting in about five hour's time with the u.n. secretary general, ban ki-moon. we also is going to meeting with the russian ambassador. he said he would be listening to the comments of the egyptian foreign minister. and i think russia being a permanent member of the security council, its position on the egyptian plan is key. remember russia rather reluctantly supported the resolution in 2011 on libya, which lead to nato being in there in the skies and carrying out air strikes. russia in some ways believes it was tricked by that resolution. so the russia position could be key in all of this. the other question i think that will be asked by diplomats, is the scale of what egypt is proposing. are they planning a small operation as part of a coalition to deal with isil

these were militias already in place, shi'a militias that had been engaged in iraq before-- >> many of them but not all of them. some of them are new. >> rose: so they're new. >> some of them are new, not all of them. >> and how is iran contributing to their effort? >> they are funding training, equipping, providing strategic guidance and tactical guidance on the ground as well. so we've basically stopped the isis expansion in iraq, but within the area that they control-- so within the sunni areas of iraq and within the sunni areas of syria, isis has consolidated its position over the last six months. what does that mean "consolidated?" it means six months ago they did not control all of that territory. now they pretty much do. so there were some tens of thousands that they didn't control. they've taken those over. so while we've stopped the expansion, they've consolidated their position. that's one thing that's happened in the last six months. the other thing that's happened in the last six months is we've seen their ideology spread in two different directions. one are to young people

>> right. >> the militia. >> omar is young and was even younger when the fighting started.om around the country and many who had left, heeded the calls for revolution on facebook and twitter. they fought in tripoli, benghazi, misrata and everywhere in between. who won this war? young people or everybody? >> everybody. but the young people, they started it. >> what was your day like as a revolutionary? >> you keep one thought in your mind. you do this for the next generation, for a better country, for a better life. >> you have a future now. >> yeah. there was no future in libya before gadhafi's regime. we were slaves for gadhafi. >> oh, this looks good. >> yeah, it is. >> barracuda is a seafood restaurant just outside of town on the mediterranean coast. >> one of the best foods in libya, i think, the seafood. >> the menu is not printed on paper. it's laid out right there for you on ice. >> we have dote here. >> what do they do? they just grill that? >> yeah, they grill it. some garlic, some sauce. it's really awesome. >> you pick out the stuff that interests you from the da

these guys and iranian backed militias will take all the bits they like. we won't get paid, we won't have pensions, light armored vehicles maintained by the government. we want to have light arms provided by the government. but that's how they'll try to play it. that's how they always do. but i need to stay on this. this brings us back to the final point. some of these individuals, dhawa party are trying to lend a hand even though it's run by a bawa level leader. kazaw sxichlt samir haddad in senior deputy positions within mli. likewise bottom left-hand side you see fayed rung the shahabi portfolio, i guess you could say, the national security adviser. again, some conservative element of dhawa party, conservative as in they don't want a radical change in the nature of power in iraq they don't want to be one day jettisoned as those are the politician that's we iraqi hezbollah, keep in the cupboard and bring them out whenever we want to look acceptable. they don't want that to be the end point for where iraq goes. we've got allies for where we can work in ir

see police cars but even the police would answer to the militias. they worked for the government that they would answer the militias. >> guest: it's just like afghanistan and iraq. that dave bing 9/11 it is always a threatening environment every day you are there especially in areas like that don't have a solid government. so it's very dangerous and that is why we are there. >> host: , the american security personnel such as yourselves and their diplomatic security and grs and then there was some cia folks, correct? >> guest: yeah diplomat security officers which there were six and then us. we work with the security team. >> host: grs stands for? >> guest: global response and the staff personnel non-shooters we call them 18 or 19 as well. >> guest: less than 25. >> host: is that a normal staff for diplomatic compounds such as this? >> guest: for the annex there is never a normal staff. adjusted berries on the location and what help they need supported things like that. the consulate now i have been in probably in my 30 years of being in the military

a bunch of angry militias.they are afraid to completely change the dynamic of europeans as neutral arbiters, at that they're backing one side. there could be blow back down the road. but yeah i mean the funds are still flowing. when i was there the salaries were still there. these militias are incredibly well-armed. they're flying aircraft around. somebody is helping repair the aircraft. we're talking artillery tanks, so this is very well arm conflict. >> with apologies for those with hands i did not get to. we have to end our event now. if you're like me more depressed and better informed. join me before we depart in thanking our panel for really an excellent conversation. [applause] and again, thank you all for coming out. have a nice day. [inaudible conversations]. [inaudible conversations]. >> if you missed any of this discussion this morning it is available on the c-span video library. go to c-span.org. we do have more live events coming up today here on c-span2. at 11:00 a.m. eastern the u.s. institute of

al jazeera was given access to one of the militia as it prepared to take on i.s.i.l. in a strong hold. imran khan sent this report from the battle region. >> 35km beyond the valley is the city and surrounding areas, under the control of the islamic state of iraq and levant. this is the front line marked by the attributy. it was a base one of many fighting in the area. it's mission is to keep the area and prepare for an assault on tikrit. shi'a militias were backed by iran. some of them have been accused of revenge attacks. allegation that this commander denies. i'm a civil engineer and i answered the call with the grand ayatollah, and am part of the population forces. i'm a witness to everything that has taken place. that has not happened. this militia wait and wonder. >> tikrit has been a stronghold of anti-government sunni rebels. i.s.i.l. says it controls the town it's the army in control. they are a group of loyalists, and they were born in the town. they don't share the same goals as i.s.i.l. but they want change in iraq and sunni. >> when i.s.i.l. received the a

because the so-called pro-russian militia is run by russia. and it depends on the russian position. >> russia denies that alexi. >> listen nobody believes it. actually everybody nose including the reports of council of europe any other side. there are many reports. unfortunately, you know the russian side is playing. everyone nose there's a russian intervention. there are soldiers killed on the territory, on ukraine. there are documents, it's clear. let me come back to your question about ceasefire. yes, it's possible. actually that was - it was rein in minsk agreement signed last september. ceasefire and withdrawal of weapon from both sides. unfortunately it didn't happen so ukranian side is ready to do that. it's important the other side would do the same. the decision here depends, let me stress on russia on mr vladimir putin. >> we'll have to leave it there. many thanks indeed >>> the u.s. and the u.k. closed their embassies in yemen's capital as rebels consolidate their hold on large parts of the country. nine have been killed. sa others

the iraqi miami and shia militia are declaring victory. the fight has been led by the badr corps. the group is now ready to move north into isil strongholds. we have a report. >> the celebration illustrated the growing power of shia groups here including the badr corps. the badr corps don't like to be called a militia but in effect are in control of their own operations. they are working with the iraqi government and with those forces have now taken over according to the militia members leaders and iraqi government officials pretty much all of the province, a major stronghold of isil. it hasn't been without a cost. as they drove is through part of the territory, you can see abandoned villages, houses destroyed, even mosques destroyed in some areas, we were told. what we saw really indicated a region, the formerly rich region abandoned to the fighting. they are investigating an alleged massacre in an area of the province where villagers say dozens of unarmed men were shot dead. this celebration was really to congratulate the fighters, religious leaders and all of iraq over the vict

militias. that is the only way to sustain and protect iraq as a sovereign country over the long-term. we've had the sons of iraq, the awakening, problems with the sunni region and its connectivity. this is the second time, third time this has happened, so we need to create a force to really think of representing the force and that is part of the strategic and that's what the trainers are doing and it's better and more effective to train them with our arab and european allies. we're training 12 brigades as you know. thank you. >> we go now to mr. rohrbacker of california, chairman of the subcommittee on europe, eurasian and emerging threats. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman and i want to thank the witnesses for coming here. we have, this is a discussion between us and the witnesses about what direction we should go and we appreciate your advice. dr. vernon, let me note that i agree with your basic assessment that we are not just talking about isil orris isis, whichever we want to call it, th

they are likely here in advisory capacity to the shia militias here. they do play a role in damascus, there to protect key shrines there. the shia shrines have always been a red line. if they got attacked, they'll send it ground troops. it's likely there may be a small can tin vent of less's blah fighters in a training role with shia militias but not in the front lines according to people i've spoken to. the shia militias are once again in the spotlight. they were accused of beating a key senior m.p. and killing 12 sunnis in baghdad, leading to a suspension that still goes on to this day. the sunni block suspended it's part in pavement. very intense negotiations going on for the last few days in parliament looking at the need for an investigation as to why this took place and whether there is as need to disarm the shia militias here in the capitol, baghdad. >> new dealt is set to debate on whether to deploy troops to help fight islamic state of iraq and the levant. it would perform a non-combat role but critics say a deployment would be a mistake. >> t

on the battlefield, the shiite militia have performed well with.hey are also accused of carrying out atrocities against the sunni population of the country and increasingly carrying them out with impunity. with the latest killing in the capital baghdad, this group of sunni iraqis the shadow of blame certainly from the sunni population the sunni political leadership very much hangs over the shiite ma establishilitias and they believe the government is not doing enough to pull these shiite militia in to line to curb their excesses and punish them as well. the iraqi government said it will investigate the latest mass killing in the capital. >> this sunni tribal leader certainly also calling for u.s. intervention. how popular would you say is that notion there on the ground to get the united states more involved in the fight against isis? >> i think it depends what part of iraq and who you are talking to. the answers could vary significantly. here in the north of the country, kurdish dominate. they want practical assistants like weapons. in the rest of

. >> the spies accuse israel of plans to appropriate african diamonds and of arming and training militias in africa. it also says israel is working to fuel insurrection inside sudan. israel has even targeted egypt the first arab country to give it recognition readying itself to sabotage the country's water supply. >> israel has created a type of plant that absorb large quantities of water to as to significantly reduce the volume of water that reaches egypt. >> israel sabotages its enemyies

government troops and shia militias declare victory. two french soldiers are wounded in the a knife attack. plus. >> the ehs have it. >> ayes have it. hello, the jordanian pilot held captive bety islamic state of iraq has reportedly been killed. isils that released a video which showed the pilot being burned to death. he was captured when his f 16 came down in isil held territory in syria in december. he was on a mission to support the u.s. led anti-isil coalition. the government vows to do all it could to secure the release including handing over an iraqi prisoner. she was that killed 60 people. she was to be handed over in return for the pilot and the japanese journalist he was killed a month ago on january the third. >> speak to al jazeera and they will start by telling us how this news has been received in the jordan. >> firstly, we have received government reaction as well as reaction from the jordanian army. in a statement by the spokesperson of the jordanian army he said that the jordanian armed forces is announcing his killing a

the militia want to tackle i.s.i.l. affiliated troops and are against those that killed in douma on monday. when egypt attacked training camps belonging to i.s.i.l. groups. the tripoli based government described the attacks as hostile. >> reporter: we regret the egyptian attack on douma. we send condolences to families of those killed in the aggression and we condemn the terrorist act that targeted a number of egyptian nationals in libya. >> reporter: libya's political leadership is fractured, the strikes taken out with the support of the other government in tobruk. u.n. is calling for a resolution to intervene in libya. the campaign began after the beheading the 21 egyptians who were living there. the united states will hold talks on how to deal with i.s.i.l. living there. sometimes referred to as dash. -- daesh. >> it's a complex dangerous situation, mainly for the migration routes. now there is another dimension that should push all the sides inside libya to realise that daesh is a threat to the country, to all the l