with rosiland jordan in washington, d.c.s we were hearing peter say there, ros, obviously all attempts to end the violence have failed so far. the u.s. used to consider iran part of the problem, now they are inviting them to these talks. obviously a more pragmatic foreign policy, but how big of difference does the u.s. think having iran at the table will actually make? >> it is our understanding it is the russians who extended the formal invitation. but clearly that would not have happened without the u.s. agreeing that having the iranians at the bargaining table would be a useful thing. the u.s. us does consider iran very much a problem inside syria. they point to the ongoing deployment of igrc members of the elite military force supporting the assad government. they also point to the ongoing financial support that iran has provided to damascus during the four and a half years of this civil war. so they know that iran is not making it any easier to end the civil war. in that said, they also understand that tehran has the ea

with rosiland jordan.ut first this report. >> reporter: this is one of the funerals for iranian soldier killed in syria. the u.s. says nearly 2,000 iranian forces are in syria fighting in support of the government. iranian generals have been assuring the people foreign involvement issing important. a commander has this to say: >>> but more countries getting involved in the conflict has not stopped the killing of civilians. and many feel iran is being forced to publicly acknowledge the deaths of its solders. >> not a single day goes by that you don't here news about the death of at least one or two soldiers in syria. the advisors have been in syria from day one. if they are acknowledging it now, it is because they cannot hide it from the international community or the public inside the country. >> reporter: the coffins aren't just arriving in tehran, hezbollah has also been burying its fighters who have been killed in syria. russia is providing syria's military with air cover. syrian rebels have become unde

rosiland jordan al jazeera washington. >> and the u.s. says it will hold a second round of talks with russia to ensure safety during the bombing campaign in syria. 300 have been killed during its latest rounds of attacks on raqqraqqa and homs. >>> north korea is celebrating 70 years since it was founded by its ruling party. it's mark the occasion buy big party in pyongyang. this is the live scene now. you can see the north korean leader kim jong-un. chinese officials were also in attendance there. neighboring south korea is harry fawcett our correspondent and rain heavy rain may have delayed the start of this extravaganza but it doesn't seem to have dampened spirits harry. >> reporter: that's right. they waited until the afternoon, we understood it was to get underway mid morning. those blue skies have come and just around 3:00 p.m. local time here in seoul things started to get underway up there in pyongyang and the highlights have been twofold, really, kim jong-un giving a speech in front of ranks of army fell and indeed invited guests.

soldier sinc rosiland jordan hae in washington. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. has held the rake town of howaga since 2013. pentagon said the raid yesterday turned deadly. >> acting in support of iraqi peshmerga forces after they came under aassaulted from i.s.i.l, died after severing medical care. >> the first to die in the u.s. led fight against i.s.i.l. there are now questions about whether the bowms ha obama admin has broken its promise to not be in an active combat mission. >> u.s. forces are not in an active combat mission in iraq, i can say that directly. >> reporter: despite the loss of the u.s. special ops member, thursday's raid could be seen as a test run for a larger operation. rosiland jordan, al jazeera, barn. >> israel has placed a series of age restrictions on muslim men who want to enter the al-aqsa mosque compound since september. israel wanted to change access to the side. the mosque is sacred to jews and muslims. muslims are allowed to enter the site but not pray there. >>> lightly injured, the alleged attacker is not injured. a 53 palestinia

rosiland jordan has more from washington. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. has held the iraqi town of howaga since june 2013. early yesterday the pentagon said the raid turned deadly. >> one u.s. service member was wounded during the rescue mission acting in support of iraqi peshmerga forces after they came under fire from i.s.i.l. he subsequently died after receiving medical care. >> reporter: the unnamed service member was the first to die in iraq since the u.s. withdrew in 2011 an the first to die in the fight against i.s.i.l. now there is question about the u.s. determination not to commit combat troops. >> this was a support mission in which they were supplying support to the kurdistan government. u.s. are not in combat in iraq, i can say that directly. >> reporter: question is whether iraqi forces are ready to retake territory from i.s.i.l. could be seen as a test run for a larger operation. rosiland jordan, al jazeera, washington. >> it is six weeks until a major climate conference in paris and negotiators in germany are trying to agree on a framework

rosiland jordan has more now from washington, d.c. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. has held the rak iraqi town of howaga sie 2013. the pentagon said the raid turned deadly. >> one u.s. service man was wounded during the raid, after they came under fire by i.s.i.l. he subsequent died after receiving medical care. >> reporter: the unnamed service member was the first american to die in iraq since the u.s. withdrew in 2011 and the first to die in the u.s. led fight against i.s.i.l. there are now questions about whether the obama administration has broken its promise to not deploy combat troops. >> u.s. forces are not in a combat role in iraq. this was a support mission in which they were providing support to the iraqi -- to the kurdistan regional government and u.s. forces north in an active combat mission in iraq, i can say that directly. >> for much of 2015 there has been speculation about whether iraqi forces are ready to retake territory from i.s.i.l. despite the loss of the u.s. special ops member, could be seen as a test run for alarger operation. rosiland jordan

rosiland jordan for us in washington.nd, thank you. >>> earlier i spoke with retired air force colonel who lead intelligence missions in the middle east, he said the overhaul is coming too late. >> i don't think the train and equip program was a good program with and so the way in which they were training those syrian fighters and the whole process there was flawed from the start. so it is a good idea to stop that program. however, stopping that program has come a little bit too late. as far as russia is concerned, russia is trying to determine the facts on the ground, but they too are hampered by the reality on the ground. they -- they will not be able to -- by themselves change what is happening there, so they are going to be in a position of being drawn into the syrian conflict, but they are not going to be able to determine by themselves the outcome. they may be able to have a big voice in it, but that will depend on what iran does. it will depend on what the assad regime can do, and it will depend on what isis does i

rosiland jordan, al jazeera, washington. >> and the u.s. says it will hold a second round of talks with russia, for the bombing campaign thatting syria. latest rounds of air strikes in raqqa, homs and rr in idlib province. >>> military vehicles have lined the banks of a river in pyongyang in advance of a military campaign. north korea's leader was accompanied by chinese officials who are attending the celebrations. the capital is the venue for what kim jong-un said would be the largest military parade in the country's credit history. especially the chinese for a show of force to the world. >> for kim jong-un this is a coming out celebration. the 70s anniversary of china's huge military parades to commemorate the 70 years since the end of world war ii. kim jong-un wants to show he's as powerful no. respects a powe. the chinese are keeping a distance but as you know president putin has enjoyed closer ties with north korea in the last few years but they simply know they can't do without each other. king kim jong-un wants to normalize it his re

al jazeera's rosiland jordan reports now from washington, d.c. >> reporter: the u.s. is having trouble explaining how and why it bombed acharity hospital in kunduz, achtion on n on saturday. at first military leaders says the troops were under attack from the taliban and called on a gun ship for help. but on monday the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan said that wasn't the case at all. >> afghan forces advised they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from u.s. forces, several civilians were accident accidentallily struck. this was different from original reports. >> doctors without borders accused the u.s. of trying to escape responsibility. >> it goes from collateral damage to a tragic incident and now we hear pushing the responsibility to the afghan government. whereas, we now know that it's the u.s. military who dropped a bomb that hit a full functioning hospital. >> reporter: the hospital had been open in kunduz since august 2011 and officials are demanding an independent investigation. earlier on monday the u.s. defense secretary

says is essential at this moment. >> rosiland jordan thank you very much indeed.nesses on the ground in syria, say russian air strikes have destroyed the main weapon's depot of a u.s.-trained rebel group. >> reporter: a new phase in russia's intervention in syria. the air power is now being used to support a syrian army counter offensive on the ground. areas are coming under fire. this battle is for control of an important corner in western syria, strategically situated along the main highway between the cities of damascus and aleppo, and it seems the government has informed the residents of the planned assault. >> translator: after the syrian regime threatened to invade the town, the families fled from their homes, and now this town is empty of civilians and only rebels remain. >> reporter: people started fleeing on tuesday. tens of thousands live in the town, it is not clear how many already left. but the rebel factions in this region are promising to fight back. >> translator: we will defenning our land. we will not allow the army or russian and iranian occupie

. >> rosiland jordan joins us lye now from the u.s. capitol. significant is the timing of this announcement while the talks were taking place in vienna. >> well, if you were to listen to john kerry who talked about the president's decision to deploy upwards of 50 special forces inside syria to work alongside the syrian opposition, this would be a good idea, but it may be up to the historians to judge whether or not the presence of these special forces operators working along with members of the syrian opposition to go after isil is going to be in any way a leverage point as it were in trying to come to a political resolution to the overall crisis inside syria. the administration is also suggesting that doing so is going to make it easier for members of the syrian opposition as well as other groups that have been fighting against isil inside syria to be that much more effective. let's not forget just in the past couple of weeks, the obama administration basically decided that trying to raise an organic syrian army against isil just was not worki

. >> let's go live to rosiland jordan in washington, d.c. hi, ros. being seen as another sign of uncertainty in washington's syria strategy, do you think? >> it's more a question of whether the obama administration has uncertainty in its program in terms of trying to go after members of isil. certainly there is criticism about this particular part of the overall strategy, which was to try to basically build up a 15,000-member infantry to do the u.s.'s dirty work as it were. what was pretty obvious from the very beginning was you had two problems. one, the u.s. wanted these vetted members of the syrian opposition to go after isil, the members wanted to go after the government of bashar al-assad, and then there's the other factor, the congressional requirement that the u.s. do a background check on all of the people that the military was going to train for this isil force, and the -- the vetting really yielded very few people. they trained at most maybe a hundred people before the program was suspended. and once those people were deployed some just cut

let's speak to rosiland jordan. good to see you.l us a little bit more about what ash carter said about how he is planning to intensify the campaign against isil. >> reporter: well, one of the things that the defense secretary highlighted, barbara is the fact that even though the u.s. has repeatedly said that it wants to see iraqi forces or moderate syrian rebels taking the lead in the fight against isil targets, they haven't been as aggressive as the u.s. would want, and that is why he is suggesting that a more intense, more front-line role for u.s. forces could be at hand. certainly the fact that this is even being considered is raising questions, again, about the administration's efforts to train and assist moderate syrian rebels to fight isil inside syria, and there was a bit of exchange between ash carter and john mccain, the senator in charge of the senate armed services committee. >> with respect to the title 10 forces that the department of defense trains and equips in syria, they have not come under attack -- >> none of the

rosiland jordan joining me live from washington, d.c. thank you. >>> despite international criticism, the russian air offensive in syria continues. russia is reporting that their air strikes have destroyed 13 underground facilities, killing 200 fighters in a separate attack in the aleppo area, they claim they have killed more people. french defense minister says more air strikes are being planned on isil targets in syria. overnight they targeted a training camp in raqqa which is an isil strong hold. france expanded its campaign to syria last month after joining the u.s.-lead coalition against isil in iraq last year. >>> iran's revolutionary guard has confirmed the death of a top general in syria. he was an advisor to bashar al-assad's army. zana hoda reports now from beirut. >> reporter: he was a top ranking member of iran's elite revolutionary guard, but the general's death in syria's northern province of aleppo leaves more questions than answers. a statement from tlef lugsary guard says he was killed by isil forces while on a mission t

rosiland jordan, washington. >> the u.s. says it will hold a second round of talks with russia to ensure the safety of the air campaign in syria. however at least five people were killed in an air strike in a camp for internally displaced people. another 50 were injured in a strike in the villages of adin in idlib province. >>> iran's revolutionary guard has confirmed the death of a syrian general. his death brings the spotlight back on the battle for the city which has changed hands several times during the four year war. zeina khodr explains how both iranian and russian support for president assad's army has changed the landscape. >> general hussein hamedani's death leaves more questions than answers. a statement from the revolutionary guard says he was killed by i.s.i.l. forces while on a mission to advise the syrian army. some reports suggested the general was supposed to supervise a major operation to lift i.s.i.l.'s blockade of a military base. iran admits its military advisors are on the ground but denies it has groun

and rosiland jordan has been following what he was saying. does what general john campbell say, compared to what we heard the afghans say. >> reporter: it really comes down to the specificity of language. general john campbell confirmed on monday that it was the afghan national security forces who requested the air strikes. requested. however, in testimony just a few minutes ago, before the senate armed services committee, general campbell said there was a u.s. special operations unit in the area, talking with the crew of that ac 130 gun ship, which certainly sounds to my ears as if they were the ones who actually called in the air strikes, actually provided the targeting for that ac-130 gunship. so it really comes down to the language kamal. it sounds as if it were the u.s. that did call in this information, but of course if this is in fact what did happen, and there are investigations underway, the organization. doctors without borders is convinced that some sort of war crime was committed, because the hospital that had been in that locatio

let's speak to rosiland jordan in washington, d.c.e russia started its aerial operation in syria, really there has been a threat of a potential, i guess collision or some kind of impact between the u.s. action, anti-isil action there, and these russian ones. how worried is the u.s.? >> reporter: the u.s. is very concerned about this development that happened over the weekend, and a pentagon spokesperson says that while the incident didn't lead to any sort of collision, he did stress that this is all the more reason why the u.s. and russia need to establish some rules of the road as it were, or try to have a formal de-confliction profess. they have had a second round of communications on saturday. we don't know whether that was before or after the russians and the americans saw each other in syrian air space, but the spokesperson did stress this is all the more reason why there needs to be clarity and very quickly so that there isn't some sort of collision between the two forces that are both going after, they say, isil forces inside s

let's go to rosiland jordan for more on this announcement. ros? rosiland jordan can you hear me?ll us more about this announce we have had of special forces being send to syria. >> reporter: yes, laura, we're having a little bit of audio problems here, but as you just noted president barack obama is authorizing the deployment of fewer than 50 special operations forces to northern syria to work alongside the members of the syrian opposition as they go after isil targets. the president has always authorized the deployment of a-10 aircraft, and f-15 fighter jets to the air base in turkey to help with the ongoing air war against isil inside syria. what we don't know is whether the u.s. has received permission from the syrian government to allow the deployment on the ground of u.s. special forces inside that country. let's not forget when the air war started a year ago, september, the syrian government complained that the u.s. air war against isil targets inside syria was a violation of its sovereignty, but that said, syrian aircraft did not try to engage u.s. aircraft and other coali

we'll speak to rosiland jordan in just a moment, but first peter sharp is in moscow for us. much warmth from moscow towards washington either. some pretty harsh words from the president. >> reporter: that's right. nothing really, i think, a sense of disappointment from president putin today. he has since the air strikes began, been trying to talk with washington, trying to persuade washington and america to come on board his coalition in his strikes against isil. well the secretary of defense, ash carter ruled that out today saying putin's plan was flawed. but there will be talks on how to safeguard their pilots in this air space. but very basic technical stuff. russia's replied to this, and said that america -- the pentagon's refusal to share tactical intelligence on isil just goes to show that america is not looking to fight in this war. >> okay. peter many thanks. let's go to washington, then, rosiland jordan is there, ros, there's surprise that the u.s. says no to cooperating militarily with russia, but at least the two sides are still talking, the relationship hasn't br

rosiland jordan reports from washington. >> the u.s. is having trouble explaining why and how it bombed a hospital in kunduz. on monday, the demander of u.s. forces in afghanistan said wasn't the case at all. >> afghan force he advised they were taking fire from enemy forces. different from other reports. >> 22 people were killed, including hospital workers civilians and children. >> it goes from collateral damage to a tragic incident and now we hear pushing the responsibility to the afghan government. whereas we now know that it is the u.s. military who dropped a bomb that hit a full functioning hospital. >> reporter: the hospital had been open in kunduz since august 2011 and officials are demanding an independent investigation. earlier on monday, the u.s. defense secretary offered this. >> we have been in touch with them to assure them that a full and transparent investigation will be held. >> u.s. pilots in afghanistan can only fire to protect troops on the ground. and the afghan can only call in cover when they are in danger of bein

rosiland jordan has been following that committee hearing. wording and the semantics, rosiland, these are so important in this conflict, aren't they? >> reporter: they are very important because, first, the u.s. military was saying that the air strike on the doctors without borders trauma center on saturday was the result of u.s. forces calling in for the air support, and on monday general john campbell who is the commander in afghanistan said that actually it was the afghans who called in for the close air support to use a military phrase. and then just in the past hour, before this senate panel, he told the centers that there were special operations forces who were in come communication with the gunship. and that is another way of saying that they were the ones who were calling in the air strikes, but there are still a lot of questions, kamal. was it because they felt there was an imminent threat that they needed to actually call in these strikes? had they vetted the information that had come from the afghans? were they relying solely on inf

. >> rosiland jordan live in washington, d.c. roz is this the way it works? the afghan army which is said to be undertrained with poor moral quality, call up and say you've got to do our bidding and not attack a hospital. >> i've taken closer look at this situation and apparently the afghan can call for help if they are in danger of being overrun. that was the situation a week ago monday, claiming it had tape control of the city. but at the time there wasn't any such request and the united states didn't put any planes in the air. well, then you have the situation on saturday where the u.s. is now saying the afghanistan called in for hem. flierneither are saying whethere afghans were in danger of being overrun. that is a specific situation where the u.s. is allowed to put its jets in the air and then fire on the enemy. if that's not the case, that could be a very big problem for both sides since the general we saw there, general john campbell is going to be testifying on tuesday before a senate panel about the u.s.'s ongoing situation and involvement in afghan

. >>> al jazeera am rosiland jordan ha's rosiland jordanhas . >> one that u.s. and russian military officials did have their first imfertion how to cot how to avoid getting into each other's way, and the u.s. does not plan to change its military strategy against i.s.i.l. nap said, peter cook was very reluctant to provide more details about what happens next. >> right now our focus is the fight against i.s.i.l. there are moderate forces that are taking the fight against i.s.i.l. that are getting our support now. we believe the russians should be doing everything they can to take the fight to i.s.i.l. as well. >> peter cook did say there are future conversations planned between the russians and the americans but he couldn't say when those conversations will take place and on exactly which topics they'll focus. it does not answer many questions about how the u.s. and russia are planning to stay out of each other's way as they both bomb i.s.i.l. targets inside syria. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he is prepared for dialogue with the palestinian.

. >>> rosiland jordan joins us life now from washington.s program was doomed from the start, wasn't it? >> reporter: well, basically because the people who were being chosen for the program really wanted to fight against the military of syrian president bashar al-assad. they are -- they have been engaged in a civil war as we all know for more than four and a half years, the u.s. wanted these moderates was to train their efforts on fighting isil extremists. and while they did recruit and vet about a hundred or so men, the first contingent that was deployed in midsummer, basically melted away, dropped their guns and ran, and didn't take up the fight against isil. and then when the second group was deployed, the leader of the organization, basically turned over his weapons and pledged allegiance to one of the other rebel groups, a group which happens to be considered a terrorist group under u.s. law. so this was not a program that was living up to its expectations or certainly to the half billion dollars price tag that congress had allotted fo

rosiland jordan live in washington. >>> there have been more calls from europe to deal with the refugeesis together. this time it comes from angela merkel and francois hollande. it's the first joint speech from the two since 1989. let's go to neave barker. what did they have to say? >> reporter: they both began their 20-minute addresses by acknowledging the historical significance that both are here together addressing the european parliament. the last time, the chancellor and president were here were a matter of weeks after the collapse of the berlin wall, then the rhetoric was all about european expansion and unity. now it's about facing up to the long list of serious challenges that now face the european union. and francois hollande listed several of them. he talked about youth unemployme unemployment, the desperate need of monetary reform, but perhaps the most overriding of challenges is of course the immense challenge of the refugee crisis that does threaten to divide those countries like france and germany who feel there is a moral imperative to support those refugees, and those n

let's go live to rosiland jordan who is with us live from washington, d.c. carter making it clear that this fight continues. >> that's right. that's because the defense secretary ash carter is telling those members that isil represents a fundamental threat to the u.s. national security interests. so he is promising that there is going to be a deepening of the u.s. air war at least against isil targets. of course he is also getting a lot of robust questioning particularly from republicans on the arms services committee about how the obama administration is carrying out its work. it's been a contentious hearing so far. it's only been underway for about an hour, but the chairman, john mccain has been asking very tough questions shiulie. >> is there feeling that the administration's overall policy against isil could be loosing support on capitol hill. >> there is. particularly in light of the administration's decision to as it says dial back or change course on the train and assist program for vets syrian rebels to go after isil targets inside of syria. there's

. >> rosiland jordan joins us live from washington, d.c.os a stark admission for a program that was doomed from the start. >> that's right. the u.s. wanted to train upwards of 5,000 or so moderate syrian rebels per year for three years, that would be about 15,000 if the plan had gone off as intended, but to fight isil, well the moderates wanted to fight the government of bashar al-assad in their ongoing civil war, so the motivation wasn't there from the beginning. clearly after two rounds of training of these forces the first one which basically fell apart the minute it was deployed and the second one, which some of them turned over their weaponings and basically pledged loyalty to other groups in the fight, the u.s. military and the entire obama administration had to say that the plan needed a serious rethink. so we're expecting more details here in washington in the next couple of hours about what those changes will be, but suffice it to say, the half billion dollars program to recruit, vet, and train moderate syrian rebels to take up arm

. >>> in a moment we'll have reaction from peter sharp in moscow, but first rosiland jordan joins usfrom washington, d.c. it doesn't such a long time ago when the u.s. us was saying iran was part of the problem in middle eastern countries like syria. so what extent has there been a shift in u.s. policy? >> reporter: sami, the obama administration still considers iran very much a problem when it comes to syria, but that said, it is taking a more pragmatic approach, because it does know that the government in tehran does have a relationship with the government in damascus, so the u.s. is hoping that it might be able to persuade tehran to persuade bashar al-assad to actually take steps to move out of his presidency and allow a political transition to take place inside syria. this is, of course, a -- a strategy, which the u.s. has been employing when it comes to iran's nuclear ambitions, but it's not going into the situation with the efforts to try to end the syrian civil war without acknowledging that the iranians are sending in military support and personnel to essentially prop up assa

al jazeera's rosiland jordan has the latest. >> reporter: the doctors without borders hospital is still closed after u.s. forces bombed it on saturday. >> we provided close air support to afghan forces at their request. to be clear the decision to provide aerial fire was a u.s. decision, made within the u.s. chain of command. a hospital was mistakenly struck. we would never intentionally target a protected medical facility. >> reporter: doctors without borders wants an outside probe because it accuses the u.s. and afghanistan of committing a war crime. >> do you have any reason to object to having an independent investigation done by the u.n. or another independent body of what happened? >> ma'am, i have trust and confidence in the folks that will do the investigation fork nato, for dod, and the afghan partners, so, you know, all of the very, very tough questions that will be asked, they will get after that. >> reporter: the bombing has reignited questions about the afghan forces readiness when u.s. troops leave. >> as we continue to pull out, the taliban with increase high level of att

let's get more from rosiland jordan who is in washington, d.c. for us.rosalyn tell us more. >> reporter: the defense secretary and the chairman of the joints chief of staff are both reiterating that in their view, isil presents a fundamental security threat to the united states and to its allies, and that the efforts so far to try to contain and then destroy isil have not been as effective as one would have hoped, and so they are saying that while no final decision has been made by the white house, they are very strongly leaning towards having more of a robust u.s. involvement in the fight against isil, perhaps beyond the ongoing air war. here is a little more of the discussion about what the u.s. is doing about isil earlier in this morning's session. >> with respect to the title 10 forces that the department of defense trains and equips in syria, they have not come under attack -- >> none of the moderate forces that we have trained have come under attack from russia in the air. >> not from our title 10 program, no. >> that's fascinating. >> and one top