, al qaeda affiliates. they are not clunky or client need, but we can usually hear them coming from some distance away. 12 years after 9/11, the united states has gotten good at that. what keeps me up at night is inspire magazine goes out to tens of thousands of people who have varying levels of interest and commitment to its content. the other half are reading it saying, here is a set of instructions for a pressure cooker bomb. i could put that at the boston marathon. i could take it to super board -- super bowl boulevard. some of them are looking at the new edition which has a simple recipe for a large vehicle bomb that you can do at home. model or therathon tsarnaev problem is what do you do when you are not dealing with al qaeda? what do you do when you are not dealing with an al qaeda affiliate? what do you do when you are dealing with al ism?a- ben the conspirators may not content given network or reaching out to the channels the u.s. government has been good about intercepting? what if they are just

of al-qaeda, no, just the local affiliate of al-qaeda. for instance, al-qaeda where they have their base in mali. it's not that clear, but you know very well that the president jonathan is facing a lot of pressure at home and abroad with britain and the united states criticizing the way his government has reacted to the kidnapping of the girls. any way they can wiggle out of the situation is what they're going to do on aligning boko haram with al-qaeda as one of them. >> thank you very much for that. rescue operations are officially over where hundreds of workers were killed. tensions across the country are running high. anger grows over the disaster. 200 demonstrators gathered in the square in istanbul on saturday. police fired water canons and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. >>> in the mining town of soma where the mining accident happened, more than 30 people including lawyers and union members were arrested defying the ban rotin protesting the wot mining accident ever in. 2347 the recovery price is all but officially over. the l

-backed government forces struggle to cross one of the al qaeda's deadly affiliates, al qaeda or aq a.p. a yemeni attack helicopter, fighter jets and artillery on views blasted at al qaeda hiding places in the south of yemen. state-run media reported five al qaeda militants had been killed in an air strike. the military campaign on april 29th followed a series of attacks by drones that reportedly killed 65 al qaeda militants. the question - can the u.s. and yemen destroy al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. i'm joined by former director of the c.i.a.'s counterterrorism sector. he's chairman of the advisory board for e.r. j part engineers, with a -- partners, with a focus on security and intelligence and is an al jazeera contributor. yemen's quost is committed -- government is committed, so is the aq a.p. which responded with suicide attacks and an ambush aimed at the minister of defence. can the yemeni government, with u.s. hep, drive al-qaeda out of yemen. >> i think the straight-out april is no. they can't drive al-qaeda where are out in the short term. we are seeing military gapes. fig

al qaeda is out of the picture. and with it the faction that was close to al qaeda. now we have groups with nationalist aspirations, a situation going on for half a century. and this situation will not go away until their demands are addressed. they wanted independence at times, but have to be realistic, like in the agreement, like now. they wanted an autonomy. mali never discussed that idea. >> it's a complex situation. >> thank you for speaking to us. our correspondent there. >> a bomb attack in pakistan's north-west tribal area killed six security personnel. the men were on control when an improvised bomb exploded. two others were injured. >>> pakistan's prime minister confirmed he will attend the ipp august ration ceremony for india's new prime minister. narendra modi made the invitation to nawaz sharif. they have a strange situation and fought several wars, mostly over the kashmir. >>> protesters in india urged the government to control armed troops. there was support for general khalifa haftar. he says he wants to crush hard-line militias backed by the libyan g

no question there are core al qaeda and replenished core al qaeda and a variety of affiliates.ing that the president just said about these affiliates that they are focused locally and that the threat is diminished was also said about al qaeda back in the 1990s, the group the egyptian islamic jihad only on egypt and politics. only focused on what is in front of them until they are not. until they turn their eyes to the united united states. the john brennan tops the top terror advisor predicted that al qaeda would be in effect eliminated by the end of this decade. that certainly doesn't look like it's a prediction that's likely to come true. >> congressman pompei, a republican congressman said he believes al qaeda is greater, stronger, the threat from al qaeda today is stronger than it was when president obama took office. and there are these other assessments that are starting to bubble up, marah. >> you mean in terms of able to it launch an attack on the homeland or just -- what are the criteria? >> across the board. >> no doubt it's me as it that sized. whether it's in a posi

backed government forces struggle to crush one of the al qaeda's deadliest affiliates, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. yemeni attack helicopter and fighter jets and artillery blasted at what was described as al qaeda hiding places in the south of yemen. state-run media reported five al qaeda militants had been killed in an air strike. a military campaign launched april 29th folioed a series of attacks that reportedly killed 65 militants. the question - can the u.s. and yemen destroy al qaeda in the arabian peninsula once and for all. i'm joined by the former director. c.i.a. counterterrorism center, and is advisor from e.r. g partners, a firm with a focus on security and intelligence, and an al jazeera contributor. robert, good to see you. yemen's government is committed, suicide attacks have been responded with, and an ambush aimed at the minister of defence. can the yemeni gof, with u.s. help, drive al qaeda out of yemen? >> well, outed the straight april is no. they can't drive al qaeda out of yemen in the short term. we are seeing military gains. fighting the campaigns, they cap

. >> a growing new threat from al qaeda this morning. the terror group gaining strength across the middle east. the latest, what does it mean for the world and america straight ahead. >>> a deadly attack in nigeria. this assault linked to the same terrorists responsible for kidnapping hundreds of schoolgirls. we are live in nigeria with the latest. welcome to "early today," i'm john berman. >> i'm poppy harlow, it is 4:00 a.m. here on the east coast. >>> of course, we begin with big political news breaking overnight. voters said no to tea party challengers and democrats making their choices for who they want to run in november from congress to the state capitol. the biggest was in kentucky. the businessman was expected to mount a strong challenge. mcconnell ran hard in the end. he easily held bevin off. he faces a tough fight against alison lunder gan grimes. mcconnell said he will make it a central part of his campaign. >> my opponent is in this race because barack obama and harry reid want her in this race. there's a reason, friends. a

they feel the al qaeda factor, which hurt their court re-seeded because al qaeda was ousted from the city. they think the international community can listen to them, giving them the demand that they have been looking for. >> what do tuareg tribes of the north - what they are demanding is an independent separate homeland, is that something that the government in bamaco would tolerate. >> they demanded nothing left than independence eps. there were moments they asked for autonomy and mallee would only consider, not discuss it. with the victories they gained and the momentum they have now, probably they may push mali to talk about autonomy. >> we shall see. >>> now, boko haram's attacks on schools in northern nigeria have been taking a toll on education, before the recent violence and mass kidnapping girls in the impoverished north didn't have choices. cultural tradition and economic challenges push them away from school into early marriages. we have this report from borno state. >> reporter: this woman believes she was 13 when her parents married her off. there were many things she did

we are supporting al qaeda. i have watched videos of al qaeda sawing the head off a priest and waving his head to the crowd. >> and you call president bashar al-assad's army hero, the regime that committed the atrocities, chemical weapons against its own people, store -- starvation of many of people. >> the clearing of callet man mountain raining culminating in a victory was a great and heroic victory, and they liberated the christians who reason under severe domination by the radical jihadists. >> how do you determine which atrocity is more horrible. what happened in 9/11 or the gassing of syrian citizens? >> there's no question in my mind that al qaeda conducted the attacks on 9/11. there is serious question among the international community about who did the attacks... >> where does that come from? >>..syria. >> what fact do you have to back that up? there are plenty of facts on the other side. >> i know it's controversial. it's not my concern. my concern is i don't want to see american soldiers, sailors, air

but i think the president was right to point to the fact that al qaeda has now metastasized into al qaedaffiliate groups across north africa, into east africa and arabian peninsula. he promise ad $5 billion counterterrorism training program. think that was the right point for the president to make. jenna: seems, am bass do, you believe most of the cases the actions are following the words appropriately but, bret, brings up another question as well. not just how we perceive the president's words and policies but how do you think our enemies perceive what he has to say? >> i think the big challenge, the president needs to translate a speech into effect tiff action. he needs to raise the cost to president putin on ukraine and we need to push back politically, diplomatically on the chinese flexing of their muscles and bullying filipinos, vietnamese, japanese in east and south china sea. there are big challenges ahead. i do think this was the right speech. jenna: okay. >> you need to bring it forward into better action. jenna: what is the way to bring it forward, brad? how do you think our ene

would we be looking at a resurgence of al qaeda?-no one can argue the we would be looking at that because that is largely a function of what is happening in syria. go off and come back? >> they started in and moved back into iraq. there were remnants and iraq. i don't want to say there were none. syria has constantly been a large factor in fueling what has arisen in iraq. i think the united states has maintained an advisory presence , hundreds our embassy if not up to 1000 personnel, which is roughly the sort of arrangement we would have in afghanistan after 26 team -- after 2016. that advisory role has been valued by the iraqis as they have to deal with this threat. youiraqis -- the question pose is one for the iraqis. what do they think would have been a wiser choice? we were not ever going to be doing the fighting for them. it would have been them and we are still able to offer support and advice and indeed, we are doing so today. what the president said yesterday as part of this counterterrorism partnership initiative is we are

al qaeda's last stronghold in the province. top army commanders putting plans for a final mission to recapture the town. al qaeda fighters say they are muslims. >> translation: they kill our people. islam is innocent of these people. >> reporter: the government is week in these areas. tribesman have the final say, and their support is crucial for the government to win its fight. it's been now three weeks since the start of the military offensive against al qaeda. the army says it's a matter of days before it restores control over the areas. many al qaeda leaders and fighters retreated to remote rural areas. >>> in libya a rogue general threatens attacks against arm militia in benghazi. [ gunfire ] >> at least 51 were killed yesterday. the government says former general haftar attacked the headquarters of two groups. his offensive included air strikes. government officials say it amounted to a coup. the general warned he will not stop until libya is cleansed of those he considered extremists. militia killed 200 prom incidents pe

al qaeda strong holds where the army is saying it made significant gains but the where abouts of al qaeda leaders remain unknown. the u.s. will continue a strong attack against the most wanted target in yemen but a fight that takes years. al qaeda may lose ground in this war but can regroup in the mountains and rebuild the network. >> still to come on the program, mms of south africans are casting their ballots. plus, why this young man the making history, that is after the break. >> you followed their journey across the border >> it was heart wrenching... >> now see how it changed the lives of the people involved. >> i didn't go back to the person that i was before i left... >> an emotional borderland reunion >> this trip was personal to me... this is real... >> long held beliefs >>...illegal in mexico too.. >> learn the language! come here... >>...most ridiculous thing i've heard in my life >> tested by hard lived truths... >> these migrants are being exploited >> beyond borderland... only on al jazeera america al jazeera america gives you the total news experience anytime, anywhere. mo

but months later al-qaeda and the arabian peninsula, al-qaeda's most active branch in the world, wouldmerge stronger and more organized. al-qaeda has become a major source for concern not only for yemen but oil-rich saudi arabia, and the u.s. which worries that yemen is becoming a platform for al-qaeda forming attacks that could destabilize the whole region. >> the spirit leader of the muslim brotherhood has appeared in an egyptian court. he said accusations against him and a thousand others have been made up. >> they accuse me while they don't have any evidence. i and about 1,180 individuals have been sentenced to death, this is an insult to egyptian judiciary. we ask you to bring you our right and we ask for retribution as my son and thousands like him were killed in a peaceful demonstration. who killed my son and thousands of people in these peaceful demonstrations. who burned the houses, mosques and who burned injured people to death. no case has been brought against the killers. we the victims have been turned. >> al jazeera journalists are still being held in egypt. they have bee

al qaeda on the run, remember that?l, the administration says they were referring to the old al qaeda back in pakistan, but now we have these al qaeda afill waafill yats in yemen, somalia, nigeria, libya, in syria in droves. so to talk about al qaeda today is a term that is somewhat geographically meaningless because these affiliate organizations are everywhere. the bottom line is the u.s. intelligence community thinks that most of their focus is inside the countries where they operate, but this new wrinkle is that they may be trying to come back to the united states, recruit americans, get them over there, train them. they have the passports. many of them have the visas that will get them back into the states and that's the big concern. remember, wolf, boston marathon. all it took was two guys inspired by al qaeda already living in the u.s. >> good point there. eli, the other story you're working on, another article you've written, you made a comparison between lawyers defending president obama''s drone strikes to what

about what this may mean about the growing strength of al qaeda. one place they are looking is right back in pakistan where al qaeda began. they believe there are operatives there, potentially planning attacks against u.s. and western interests. they also believe in syria. this is now a place where there are a growing number of americans, perhaps 70 to 100 who have gone there to fight. al qaeda operatives in syria are aiming to get those people back into the united states or into europe. there is also the situation in yemen. the u.s. embassy has been closed there for several weeks. it looks like it's going to remain closed for several more days due to an active threat string. poppy? john? >> thanks for that. the obama administration release add secret memo outlining killing u.s. citizens for terrorism overseas. they acknowledged killing four americans in drone strikes since 2009. critics called for the release ever since. a senate vote is expected today concerning one of the memo's authors, a man nominated to a federal appeals court seat by preside

it looks like al qaeda is far from gone right now, not necessarily al qaeda core, the main al qaeda, but all of these affiliate groups, we see what is happening in nigeria now, this group boko haram getting ready to sell them into captivity. this is a huge problem and i take it the u.s. is deeply concerned, based on everything that you are hearing as well. >> that's right, wolf. you have many groups that are basically somewhat unaffiliated or more and less independent. boko haram in nigeria has been somewhat independent from the mainstream al qaeda. saudi arabia is the birth place and for years they ignored the problem and didn't want to bother with it because the stature of the family and their relationship to the relationship to saudi arabia. al qaeda broke that truce in 2003 with a number of bombings that killed hundreds of saudi arabian citizens. that's when their security force cracked down and many of the al qaeda fled into yemen and yemen is one of the poorest countries on the planet and they were overwhelmed and with a place to grow in yemen because of the weak government in

town has been an al-qaeda base since 2012.ses have been destroyed in the intense fighting. thousands of people have no shelter. >> translator: our houses were destroyed. we lost everything, and we're concerned about the ongoing military operations in nearby towns. >> reporter: troops have been deployed. tribesmen are trying to negotiate an end to the violence, but the army says al-qaeda fighters have only two options, surrender or be killed. the attack on al-qaeda shows the risks involved in launching a major offensive against a group well trained in hit and run tactics. now security forces are expecting more revenge attacks across the country. >>> iran has proposed a new plan that could help bring an end to the syrian war. that's according to special enjoy mr. brahimi. he suggested that iran could arrange a new interim government in damascus. joseph is a middle east expert he says talks between iran and saudi arabia are long overdue. >> i think that everybody realizes now that in fact there will not be a political settlement

it's been now three weeks since the start of the military offensive against al-qaeda. the army said it's just a matter of days before it restores control over shabwa and abwian. many fighters have retreated to remote rural areas. ays al jazeera. >> fierce fighting in libya has left people dead and many more wounded. troops loyal to a formal general who defected from the government to fight the reynolds. libya's acting prime minister says the offensive was launched without governmental approval and called it an attempted coup. they launched airstrikes and rebels who helped overthrow m mumar foreca mumar gadaffi refused to give up weapons. >> another day of violence in ukraine and possibilities of a peaceful resolution seem quite dim. >> reporter: the residents were woken early on saturday by the sounds of explosions and gunfire. in .1 skirmish, it seemed ukrainian forces attacked around a train carriage. elsewhere, the signs of mortar bombardment from the visible here and the anger here. >> we will not be pushed out of here. this is our motherland. our chirp and grandch

al-qaeda may have lost some battles, but not the war.any of its fighters and leaders are believed to have retreated deep into the mountains and a vast desert land controlled by sympathetic tribesmen. the u.s. is confirming two u.s. embassy workers killed two yemeni men who tried to kidnap them. it happened two weeks ago. according to the "new york times," the state department says the pair are no longer in the country. they were whisked away with the blessing of the yemeni government. joining me is christopher swift, an adjunct professor at the georgetown university school ofphon service. he is a fellow at the center for national security law at the university of virginia school of law. we appreciate him joining and i got your school right. my apologies, christopher? >> no worries. it's good to be back. >> absolutely. thank you. what's your reaction to what i was speaking of, of the cia officer and the special ops gentleman that say that they were -- someone tried to kidnap them and they skilled two civilians? who do you think these peop

government of only making the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula stronger. >> al qaeda, they make it stronger and they kill civilians, and so far they have proved themselves to be doing more harm than good in taking down -- . >> this is another funeral, this time for the victims of a drone attack. dozens of people were killed last december. their relatives insist they were all civilians. despite the growing anger among the people, the government defends drones as a crucial tool in the fight against al qaeda. >> the drone attacks are taken under the guidance -- and therefore, it's an intrusion in the country. these attacks are a necessity in the remote area. there's always collateral damage even without the drones. >> his brother ali was killed in the same drone strike that killed salemme. dismissed by the prosecutor, he holds the u.s. and yemenis responsible. like millions of yemenis, he wants the skies to be free of drones. >> the u.s. continue stop the attracts as long as al qaeda remains active, but there's a general sentiment here, with the government's support against al qaeda, he won't

the real al-qaeda on the run in yemen. video you won't see anywhere else of government forces bombarding al-qaeda positions fighting fire with fire, with the men and women who battle wiped fires are learning in california state-of-the-art lab. in a painful recovery. washington illinois six months after it was devastated by a tornado. millions of dollars are needed to fix the town, but there is no federal help. good to have you with us. we begin tonight in france where world leaders gather to discuss the expanding threat posed by islamic extremists boko haram. diplomats from africa, the u.s. and across europe arriving in paris vowing to work together to find and rescue more than 200 kidnapped nigerian school girls heads of state express concern about suggestions al-qaeda is linked to boko haram. for more, we head to paris and al jazeera's tim friend. >> a tastyly -- hastily called sum mer grappling with an insurmountable problem. the leaders gathered in paris to declare what they call total war on boko haram, there was news

of significantly degraded and we don't have to wore i so much about al qaeda. that's not what you are hearing now. you hear the affiliates, as the fbi director said, metastasized the cancer, and it's spreading. >> they are sinking roots, holding more territory than before, and your biggest concern is syria. you are talking about afghanistan in the '80s, and '90s - what is going on there with al qaeda affiliates is what is similar to what gave rise to osama bin laden in al qaeda. >> i think that's right. you have a sectarian conflict with a charge component of islamic extremists flying under the flag. you have a conflict and they gravitate towards conflict. you have no governance where they established sanctuary. they crossed over into iraq and took fallujah and western iraq. they are starting to hold territory, building infrastructure, have training bases, attracting 10,000 foreign fighters to their flag. 1500 estimated from europe to the united states. they have western passports. 1990s. >> it's a big concern. >> you think the future is special operations forc

used drones in the current offensive against al-qaeda.e is offering to hold a summit with nigeria and others to talk about bow -- boca haran and triggered criticism and lack of response from the nigeria government and from the capitol. >> reporter: after a month after the capture they are still praying for their safe release and the catholic church called on the congregation to hold special prayers and many responded to the call at the church in abuja. >> we have to pray for the girls because after exploring all options and trying to meet attempts to rescue the girls we have to do this. >> reporter: the church urged all people to pray instead of trading blame and accusations. at this mosque in abuja worshippers have been praying for the girls after every scripture of class. and where the girls were kidnapped called for three days of fasting. >> a sense of unity and solidarity and togetherness and regardless of people's faith, people's tribe and geographic location. it's our concern, all of us. >> reporter: many people asked people from th

the yemeni government says they have defeated al-qaeda in the southern province.ire fighters have taken control of most of the wildfires in southern california. nearly al dozen large fires have been burning there since tuesday. they have torched about 20,000 acres near san diego. as this wildfire crisis begins to wind down, al jazeera's rob reynolds spoke to some researchers who are already preparing for the next one. >> reporter: a wall of flame leaps high into the aranda blizzard of sparks whirl and spin as scientists probe the secrets of one of humanity's oldest tools and it's immemorial enemy: fire. this is the u.s. forest services state-of-the-art fire research lab in riverside, california. where university of california scientists and their students are busy gathering fire data. marko princ i have a ch overseases the research >>> we are trying to help fire fighters to better plan, prescribe and to fight wildfires. so for that, we have a controlled fire under controlled conditions and we are looking how fire spreads. what are the things that influence fire an

al-qaeda may have lost some battles, but not the war. many of its fighters and leaders are believed to have retreated deep into the mountains and a vast desert land controlled by synpathetics. al jazeera. >>> the crisis in ukraine is causing the west to draw further away from russia. germany and france are threatening deeper sanctions if there is any interference whatsoever with ukraine's national elections planned for the 25th of may. before any of that happens, eastern ukraine will vote tomorrow on whether or not it wants to join russia and that is despite vladimir putints urge to wait. many are opposed to tomorrow's vote. some calling it illegitimate. jonah hull says it may be the only way to stop the violence. >> the voters of east earn ukraine are encouraged to see as blood thirsty capitol waging war in donetsk. the only answer, a tick for "yes" for the idea of their own people's republic. opinion polls suggest popular support for the idea is low. we found it to be divided at best. >> translator: i will be voting "yes" in the refere

it has changed and is an al-qaeda organization. it's better described as a al-qaeda group. >> william hague is those in harris and said the u.k. is willing to help fight boko haram. >> nigerian security forces have not been well-structured for this kind of thing shown by the problem getting worse with boko haram. so we can help with that. >> is why we are offering to imbed military advisors with the nigerian headquarters. we work with nigeria in many other ways on counterterrorism. >> reporter: we have correspondents standing buy in paris where that conference is being held and in nigeria's capitol. let's go to tim friend in the french capitol. tim, a lot of talk about the threat of boko haram, but have we seen anything like an action plan to combat it? >> reporter: well, i think one is slowly but very slowly emerging. they've got a huge and very difficult task ahead of them, and i think underlying all of this talk of unity that we are hearing on the platform that the president olan shared with the african leaders after their summi

i'm worried that after the al qaeda -- al qaeda is attacked, then the -- maybe some gulf countries will say we have to attack the southern movement. we go into this cycle of violence that is never-ending. i think now it's really time to give these people who are in dire need of aid and development a priority. >> very good to hear your thoughts. thank you for joining us. he's the director of the institute for gulf affairs in washington, d.c. >>> a series of bombings in iraq has killed at least 15 people. police say a blast at an outdoor market in the town of mamdia left four dead. other were killed in a baghdad suburb and in a northern city. >>> just a week to go before ukrainians vote for a new president, but with so much violence in the east of the country can it really be free and fair? let's go back to europe for more. >> al jazeera has seen evidence that pro-russian separatists are trying to disrupt the poll by closing down local government buildings. we have the report from the city in the east where some people say they're too scared to go to the polling stations. >> in the russia

what we know so far is that the army has regained control of two major al-qaeda strongholds. apart from the that, little is known about the massive military operation, but today, the army issued a statement saying that they are pretty much concerned that al-qaeda operatives might be retreating to neighboring areas. we are talking about areas which are controlled by the tribes and where the army does not have that much control. this is why people are pretty much concerned and this is exactly what al-qaeda did in the past in yemen. the they retreat, go back to the mountains and vast desert lands, seek assistance from disgruntled tribesmen and launch attacks. they did it in 2008, 2011 and also 2012. >> thank you for being with us today. >>> the 249th pick in the 2014 n.f.l. draft, the st. louis rams select michael sams, defensive end, missouri. >> lots of cheers in the room. history was made at the n.f.l. draft as michael samz became the first openly gay n.f.l. draft pick. al jazeera jessica taft joins us with more on this landmark moment? >> you know, the more i start watching

. >>> al qaeda triple threat. new intelligence showing the terror network is stepping up plans for american targets from three directions overseas and at home. >>> and protecting a terrorist. the shocking claim that the cia is harboring one of the planners of the deadly bombings of the u.s. embassy and marine barracks in beirut. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> let's get to the breaking news right now. stunning new details of the nba charges against donald sterling and of the league's intent to force him and his wife to sell the los angeles clippers. cnn has obtained documents showing the nba accuses donald sterling of discrimination but also of lying, destroying evidence, and refusing to pay a $2.5 million fine. the nba board of governors will take up the charges on june 3rd and if they are sustained, the league will terminate donald and shelly sterling's ownership of the clippers. rachel nichols will be joining us momentarily. and don lemon is joining us. you've gone through these documents

it launched a major offensive in the south against al qaeda. we have this report on the dangerous security situation. >> reporter: more government soldiers joined the fight against al qaeda in this province. they are trying to clear strat gik areas ever pushing the fighters out of a town where al qaeda have been strong. >> in this village jets attacked an al qaeda hideout. security forces are on alert. the general is in charge of hunting down al qaeda fighters across the country. >> translation: terrorism is the biggest problem. we expect revenge attacks. with the ministry of defense we have implemented measure. >> reporter: here in iran, a province north of the capital. the army is shelling shi'a rebel positions. this is the leader. the government accuses iran of giving the hutus substantial military and financial aid to destabilize yemen and neighbouring saudi arabia. >> it's terrorism - those that kilterify people and destroy property. they are illegal acts. yemen is determined to defeat them. >> reporter: the hutus say the fight is to end y

the army said it is determined to defeat al-qaeda. >> we're tightening the noose around al-qaeda fighters we're not fighting against a regular army. al-qaeda is using guerrilla war tactics. >> reporter: but it's a delicate mission for the yemeni government. security forces have been weakened by years of divisions, instability and internal armed conflicts. now the military relies heavily on u.s. drone attacks, but in a country like yemen foreign support is wildly seen as an attack on islam. >> if foreign troops are deployed popular support will withdraw significantly. we know the americans don't want peace for yemen. >> reporter: this isn't yemen's first war against al-qaeda. each time the government has claimed victory, but months later al-qaeda and the arabian peninsula, al-qaeda's most active branch in the world, would emerge stronger and more organized. al-qaeda has become a major source of concern not only for yemeni but also saudi arabia, and the u.s. who is worried that al-qaeda could destabilize the whole region. >> in india polling has now closed. the phase of voting after nationa

peninsula, during which about 60 al qaeda forces have been killed. some of them leaders. >> some argue that the u.s. drone operation in yemen is illegal. and not exactly serving its purpose. they say that it's causing more violence. is that a true assessment? . >> i'm a critic of the drone programme because it's operating outside the framework of international, bilateral law. if the yemeni government wants the u.s. to deploy drones against the al qaeda forces in yemen, so there's a behind the scenes cooperation, whatever they may say in public. this should be a matter of a treaty, there should be a law around it. you know, they are imperfect. they kill civilians, children, wedding parties and so forth. that's why some say they are alienating to the yemenis that may otherwise join in a fight against al qaeda. >> the u.s. commitment is more than just drone strucks. how involved -- strikes. how involved is the u.s. in day-to-day running of yemen. >> the u.s. is backing their president. it has close military cooperation with yemen. yemen is at the mouth

>> right now, al qaeda and the arabian peninsula is al qaeda.who were plotting to come to the united states, who were plotting to blow up american planes, but right now they are in a war with the yemeni government. this war has been going on for several years, but the last three weeks, wolf, have been very intense and the yemeni government has been trying to recapture provinces that were under the virtual control of al qaeda last month. >> can the yemeni government do this, do they need outside help, especially from the united states? >> they need outside help for intelligence collection and air support and we've been using over the course of the last few weeks, u.s. drones as close air support for the yemeni attacks. we did a drone attack on sunday, there were drone attacks three weeks ago, on saturday and sunday on a weekend, three weeks ago, so we're a big part of this fight against al qaeda. >> have they been able, though, to get the top leadership? we know the master bomb maker is still on the loose. >> he apparently is. it's very hard to g

al-qaeda may have lost some battles but not the war. many of its fighters and leaders are believed to have retreated deep into the mountains a vast desert land controlled by sympathetics. still ahead on al jazeera... a last push on the final day of campaigningly in india's mammoth elections. stay with us. >>> we know back. a reminder of top stories on al jazeera. international security experts arriving in nigeria. the first lady michelle obama has called the kidnapping as unconscionable act. >>> the african national congress has won a 5th consecutive term in south africa's elections. these are live pictures from johannesburg where victory celebrations are underway. the results are being announced in pretoria. >>> german and france say they are ready to take further sanctions against russia if ukraine's upcoming election doesn't go ahead as planned. the vote is scheduled for may 25th. >>> south sudan's president has signed a cease fire agreement with rebel leaders. the u.n. has accused both sides of crimes against humanity since fighting

and al qaeda.as run by her party on the premise that al qaeda is on the run. now, we've redesignated the survives as core al qaeda and exempted them from this but the fact is the premise of the president's campaign in foreign policy is now shredded. >> george, let me help you quickly and say that core al qaeda attacked us on 9/11. there's a big difference between that group and the group that is as you describe it spreading of islamic extreme ideology in the world. especially among populations in yemen and the others and people who are looking for a reason to engage in revolution. >> thank you for helping me with that. go ahead and elaborate how we distinguish the two. >> i just told you. it's going back to bin laden and that organize that was directly responsible for killing americans. >> so we're in good shape. >> no. i didn't say that. clearly, we have an obligation to fight terror wherever it rears its head and threatens us but there is a difference between a threat that's potential and one tha

as the most active of al-qaeda franchises outside of afghanistan and pakistan. it launched many attacks in that same area in the past, 2002, it launched a spectacular attack against french oil tanker in 2009. it killed western tourists in the area and over the last few months, it launched many, many attacks against security forces in that same area. >> attack came hours after an attack here in the capitol, sanaa on a military checkpoint near the presidential pal answer. we are talking basically about an area that is supposed to be secure because not far from there, there is also the headquarters of the intelligence and people here are pretty much concerned about al-qaeda taking the fight from shabwa to the heart of the capitol. >> voters in parts of eastern ukraine are casting ballots in a refer endum on self-rule. it's been widely condemned by the international community and described as a disaster by the kyiv government. jonah hull reports from donetsk. >> hastily arranged, low budget, the referendum drew large numbers of voters to a fairly small number of pol

al qaeda affiliate jabhat al- nusra recently release this photo. the fighter on the right, wearing a suicide vest, appears to be abu hurayra al-amriki. the group claims he was killed sunday in an attack in northern syria. this al qaeda video released monday shows a truck being loaded with bombs and a subsequent explosion at a government complex. >> reporter: al qaeda had promised an attack from an american. just last week, this english- speaking man with his face the f.b.i. says several dozen americans have gone to syria to join the fighting there. >> o'donnell: more than a year after an outbreak of salmonella linked to a california chicken company, new cases are being reported. 50 in the past two months. 574 since march of last year. the salmonella was traced to foster farms, which was allowed to stay open after the company made changes to reduce salmonella rates. classes resumed today at the university of california santa barbara. some students said it was a relief. others admitted they were worried for their safety. on friday, three students wer

these are bunkers and tunnels dug by al qaeda to move in the front line.he armed group retreated, leaving behind weapons and explosive devices, ready to be used in suicide bombings. security forces say they have stopped many revenge attacks and intercepted cars packed with explosives in the capital sanaa. >> translation: we have defeated al-qaeda in this area. their fighters fled. we'll make sure the terrorists will never be able to return here. >> reporter: now this is where the army is concentrating its efforts. the last stronghold in shebwar province. top army commanders putting plans for a mission to recapture the town. >> translation: al qaeda fighters say they are muslims, but they kill our people. islam is innocent of these people. >> reporter: the government is weak in these areas. tribesman have the final say and their support is crucial for the government to win its fight. >> it's been three weeks since the start of the military offensive against al qaeda. the army says it's a matter of days before it restores control. many al qaeda leaders and f

it announced that al qaeda was alive and well.d the withdrawal from america entirely from any interest in libya. in essence it was saying that it wasn't the chilling of an ambassador was the changing of a war but it was the statement that changes the psychology of the enemy, ie us. of course it was a terrorism attack. it was obvious in the first half hour. >> as with many stories it often takes time and persistence until the truth is known. with regard to benghazi we will remain on the case including any developments on a house collect committee as soon as they happen. that's all for now. thanks for watching and good night. ♪ [ banker ] sydney needed some financial guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. so we talked about her options. her valuable assets were staying. and selling her car wouldn't fly. we helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today...and tomorrow. so let's see what we can do about that... remodel. motorcycle. [ female announcer