stephanie dekker, al jazeera. >> au.s. defense secretary made the announcement on an unexpected stop in the afghan capitol kabul. tell us more about what chuck hagel announced today. >> well, as you say, it's unexpected visit by the outgoing defense secretary, an extra 1,000 troops to add to the thousand 800 that are going to be remaining here into 2015. a 11 attacks here, and a large attack handed over to afghan forces last month measures how much of a challenge that the afghan national army has in dealing with the taliban. the taliban specifically saying results of foreign invaders staying in this country. it also comes in fascinating times of politics. a new government that only two days ago told international donors that they were going to stick to their plans of reform and rooting out corruption. of course, now security is key realizing those aims. a fascinating time here in afghanistan, both politically and militarily. >> thank you. live for news kabul. pakistan's military says the scal al-qaeda commander would be pu

stephanie dekker reports >>> the detaining of three al jazeera staff in cairo on december 29th of last year was assumed to be short-termed. as time passed it became clear that the egyptian authorities under the government of general abdul fatah al-sisi seemed to have other intentions. peter greste is a veteran correspondent, based in kenya at the time of his arrest. by his own administration knew little about egypt. he was shocked at the idea that he was linked in some way to what the government in cairo described as terrorists. the same could be said about the rest of the team, award winning journalist and producer baher mohamed. the # freeaj-staff went viral and journalists came out with support. the trial failed to come up with anything against the three me that vaguely could be said to implicate them. a video from a different channel was shown as evidence. adjournment after adjournment followed. and to the fury of the world, the men were convicted and gaoled. for the men's families it was the lowest point of a desperate year. peter greste spent over four months in and out of cairo

stephanie dekker reports. >>> the detaining of three al jazeera staff in cairo was assumed to be short term a mix up over accreditations. as time passed it became clear that egyptian authorities under the government of abdul fatah al-sisi seemed to have other intentions. peter greste is a veteran correspondent based in kenya at the time of his arrest. by his own administration knew little about egypt. he was shocked that he was linked in some way to what the government described as terrorists. the same could be said about the rest of the team bureau chief and award-winning journalist baher mohamed and mohamed fadel fahmy. much of the international media by jan was demanding the journalists. in the u.k. and elsewhere respected journalists came out in support. the trial failed to come up with anything against the three many that could have vaguely been said to incriminate them. a video of sheep, some of the peter greste's work in kenya and other video were shown. adjournment after adjournment followed. and to the fury of much of the world, the men were convicted and gaoled. for the men's

. >> stephanie dekker has more on the journalists' years in captivity. >> reporter: the detaining of three al jazeera staff in cairo on december the 29th was initially thought to be a mix up. but under the new government of abdul fatah al-sisi - they seemed to have other intentions. peter greste is a veteran correspondent based in kenya at the time of his arrest. bys his admission knew little about egypt. he was shocked to be linked to what the government in cairo described as terrorists. the same could be said for the rest of the team and award winning journal mist mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed. much of the international media was demanding their release. the # free al jazeera journalists went viral. respected journalists elsewhere came out in support. the trial failed to come up with anything against the three men which could vaguely have been said to incriminate them. footage from a different channel were shown as evidence. adjournment after adjournment followed. in june, to the fury of the world, the men were convicted and gaoled. for the men's families it was the lowest