paul chadurgion, al jazeera.n northern syria, a new alliance has been formed to confront isil, the syrian democratic forces are backed by the united states and include kurdish forces. but other opposition groups are concerned the partnership will give the kurds too much power as zeina hodr explains. >> reporter: americas partners on the ground, the start of an offensive it hopes will end isil's presence in the northeastern part of the country. this newly formed alliance includes kurdish, arab and assyrian forces, also expected to receive the help of u.s. special forces which the obama administration plans to help in the fight against isil. many groups are participating in this effort with coordination and support of the u.s.-led coalition. >> u.s. backing for the syrian kurdish force is not new. so-called people's protection units have cleared many areas of isil with the help of coalition airstrikes in recent months. it has been trying to recruit more groups from syria's arab majority to create what kurdish leade

paul chadurgion, al jazeera. >> at least 15 people have been killed after al shabaab fighters attacked luxury hotels in somalia. victoria gatenby has more details. >> reporter: a suicide bomber deton it's a his explosives inside a hotel in mogadishu. outside, a car is on fire. it had been packed with ex plositches and used by gunmen to blast their way in to the hotel compound. they then stormed the hotel, itself. the hotel it popular with somali politicians. at least one currents and one former member of parliament are among the dead. senior government officials and a journalist were also killed. one mp called the attack a dark day for somalia. >> i was at the scene of the explosion when a car full of explosives detonated beside me. i fell on the ground and saw part of my body bleeding. there was another journalist killed in the attack. >> somali soldiers were called in to recapture the hotel. >> the security forces immediately played a role to limit the lots of life. this is a dangerous attempt from a terrorist movement. we are sure the movement will be defeated at the end. >> al shab