. -- rosalind jordan reports. >> reporter: it was the first vit by a secretary of state. john kerry's mission to bring obama administration's support for a fledgling community. as somali gets ready for elections the secretary of state wanted to show support and encourage somali to do more to improve the military capacity, particularly as it tries to get rid of al-shabab. >> somali is making progress in a mission to turn things around. somali forces pushed al-shabab out of major population centers. a determined international effort put virtually all of somali's pirates out of business. >> somali is working with members, other countries that pledged to use military force to degrade al-shabab. they have to deal with the fact that there is no long-term military tradition. so kerry wanted to underscore the u.s.'s willingness to help somali develop the military capacity. kerry wanted to deliver the message that the rule of war, and the free expression - both are apparent in any democracy. to that end he made it a point of dealing with people instrumental in trying to make sure

we'll leave you in riyadh and go back to rosalind jordan... before we lost you we were talking about john kerry. you were updating us on what john kerry has been doing and what he is hoping to achieve there. >> my apologies. communication are strong in yib uty. the secretary is looking at - trying to do more to enhance the military. it's the first time that we heard this sort of thing on the record. he talked about the critical role that djibouti plays, in what mr kerry is calling violent extremism. it has been targeted to help somali defeat the group which raised so much chaos in that country for the better part of the decade. as for the situation in yemen, the question has come up. i don't have the answer. i came up to see what has been happening on the trip but suffice to say the u.s. is concerned about the humanitarian situation, the secretary did announce a short time ago another 68 million to provide direct humanitarian assistance to yemenis caught in the fighting on behalf of the abd-rabbu mansour hadi government and members of the hout

rosalind jordan explains. >> reporter: 10-within. 1, the pentagon says that's how much iraqi troops outd isil before ramadi fell on april 15th. making u.s. defense secretary ashton carter's rechrist criticism of the iraqi military all the more damaging. what apparently happened is the iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. they were not out numbered, in fact they vastly out numbered the opposing force. yet with withdrew from the site. that says to me and most of us that we have an issue with the will of the iraqis to fight isil and defend themselves. carter's assessment caused an uproar in baghdad forcing joed by tone call prime minister on monday to reassure him the u.s. still stood by iraq in its fight against isil. but on tuesday the obama administration was once again putting pressure on baghdad. >> what the iraqi government has acknowledged; that the setback that they experienced in ramadi, was at least in part a attributable to a breakdown in some military command and planning. >> reporter: u.s. officials have also expressed caution over the introduction of shia militias in ma

rosalind jordan has more were washington. >> reporter: the u.s. secretary of state john kerry broke his thigh on sunday morning during a break in his travel schedule in europe. the secretary had finished a round of meetings with the iranian foreign minister on saturday and was planning to be available for more talks if they became necessary. the iranians left geneva saturday. he took advantage of the break in his schedule to get in some exercise. it happened that his right thigh bone which was broken in his fall is the same leg where he had a hip replacement several years ago. the secretary of state will have his surgeon take a look at the break and figure out the best way to help him recover. the secretary will not be out of action for long. he'll take part via video conference on tuesday in a foreign ministers meeting in paris, to talk about the ongoing fight against i.s.i.l. >>> rosalind jordan for us in washington. in texas today residents woke up to clear skies, and the forecast looks brighter for many areas after days of torrential rain. man

rosalind jordan has this update from washington d.c. >> the u.s. military says it conducted coalition air strikes in northern iraq overnight tuesday into wednesday. but the military spokesperson tells al jazeera that what did not happen is fighter jets did not strike and hit a mosque in that community, and a spokesperson says it's not clear whether people on the ground were injured or killed, and it's not confirmed whether or not the number two leader of i.s.i.s., el-afri, was one of those killed in the attack. the ongoing attacks are meant to degrade i.s.i.l.'s ability to conduct operations against the military and civilians in their path. u.s. says they have been using intelligence and working with the iraqi military to make sure civilians in places of worship are not targeted through the air raids. it is raising questions about the u.s. military's operations in a part of the world where it had been at war for more than nine years >>> the threat from i.s.i.l. and regional security are on the agenda as leaders from the gulf nation gather in the un

rosalind jordan, al jazeera, washington. >>> demonstrators clashed with police in chile as educational perform continues. students are demanding free education and better pay and perks for staff, and are accusing police of using excessive force at a protest last week. >>> an iconic lighthouse in massachusetts is being moved over concerns it could fall off a cliff because of erosion. they stood watch for 160 years. the move will cost $3 million, paid for through donations as well as state and federal funding. >> to kenya where grandmothers in a village where they are going back to school. many looking after children whose parents die of h.i.v. and aids. they are keen to learn huh to read and right. >> reporter: today's lesson at the kindergarten in western kenya. the children are orphans. most of their parents died from h.i.v. aids. a few classrooms away a special group of students. mothers left behind to take care of the orphans. they may be old and frail with wisdom that can never be taught in a classroom. they decided to get back to class and study arithmetic writing and reading. the

rosalind jordan explains. >> reporter: 10-1.s by how much iraqi army troops out numbered isil forces before ramadi the provincial capital fell on may 15th. making u.s. defense secretary ashton carter's recent criticism of the iraqi military all the more damaging. what apparently happened is the iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. they were not out numbered. in fact, they vastly out numbered the opposing force. and yet they failed to fight and withdrew from the site. that says to me, and i think to most of us, that we have an issue with the will of the iraqis to fight isil and defends themselves. carter's assessment caused an uproar in baghdad forcing the u.s. vice president joe booed en to call prime minister a al-abadi on monday to assure him the u.s. still stood with eye reich on their fight against isil but once again on monday they were putting pressure on the iraqi government. >> the setback that they experienced in ramadi was at least in part attributable to a breakdown in some military command and planning. >> repo

our correspondent rosalind jordan is traveling with mr. kerry. the kenyan capital of nairobi. >> it was the first visit ever of secretary of state to somalia somalia. john kerry's mission was to pledge support to this democracy just three years old. the secretary of state wanted to show the administration's support but also to encourage somalia to do more, to try to improve its military capacity particularly as it's trying to get rid of al-shabab. even though somalia is working with members from other countries that have pledged to use military force to try to degrade al-shabab they also have to deal with the fact that there is a long term military tradition. so kerry wanted to underscore the u.s.' willingness to devolve its military capacity. finally they wanted to deliver the message that the rule of law and free expression are both important in any democracy. to that end he made it a point to meet with people who were very much instrumental in trying to make sure that somalia had a healthy cultural environment not just one that is a state secu

rosalind jordan from washington, d.c.there. >> now the capital city of iraq's largest province is at risk of falling to fighters from the islamic state in iraq and the levant. some are down playing the importance of ramadi, but as we have reports victory for isil would further strengthen it. >> the suffering is only worsening in ramadi. the capital city of anbar province is torn apart by war. this is just one of the tens of thousands of families forced from their homes because of the fighting between the islamic state in iraq and the levant in government forces. the only shelter they have is on the side of this road. >> we don't have any place to go. my children are on the streets. what kind of a future do we have? >> it is a divided city, and isil is on the offensive. the local forces say they may not be able to defend the government buildings in the center of ramadi for long. >> our forces are on the defensive. we've been asking for help, but we don't have weapons and the only u.s.-led coalitions to step up airstrikes.

. >> rosalind jordan reporting from nairobi. in ondevelopment we look at africa's role in fighting terrorist. christopher is a security studies professor at george town and joins us from d.c. welcome, thank you for being here. >> security concerns and stability are major motivators for secretary kerry's visit to somali. what threat does al-shabab pose not just in somali, but that region. >> certainly. one of the things that happened over the last three to five years is as the somali government cotton its feet and dealt with instability and war lordism, al-shabab has become weaker in somali. it like many terrorist organizations has gone out of area in pursuit of interests. as a result, we are seeing al-shabab cross into places like kenya and run operations in uganda and tanzania. these are small operations initially, and are larger operations in recent months. it's likely over time that as this organization loses traction inside somali it will gain traction in neighbouring countries. >> one of the big concerns in the region is th

rosalind jordan has more. >> reporter: whether in somali djibouti kenya or uganda people in the horn of africa know the threat that is al-shabab. >> it's certainly the most serious security threat in somali which is an important country in the east africa region. we are seeing, over the last three years or so, ever since kenya invaded somali in 2011, it's become a greater threat to kenya >>> al-shabab, what the u.s. calls a designated foreign terrorist organization is not as strong as it used to be. it's been forced out the mogadishu, into the countryside by government troops and forces. it's been targeted by drone strikes. it's still lethal. >> in kampala, uganda in 2010, al-shabab set off bombs at two public screenings at the world cup. more than 70 were killed. in kenya al-shabab struck. in september 2016, 72 were killed when the group stormed nairobi's westgate mall. at the beginning of april, al-shabab fired on students at garisha college. 137 people were murdered. so when secretary of state john kerry visits nairobi and djibouti analysts say he'll bring a message of economic po