in another part of sultan abdalla a huge explosion rips through the village.t's a car bomb targeting the peshmerga. more peshmerga enforcements arrive as panic grows. the kurdish forces decide it's sometime to bring the fighting to an end. rocket propelled grenades. for now sultan abdalla is back in peshmerga hands. >> this is a very important village as it is on the banks of the river. the highway to mosul also passes here. which means we can stop i.s.i.l. supplies from this region. >> these two men know too well, it is this area here who eventually decides who wins the war. >> targeting i.s.i.l. forces this time in northern syria. rah ca wasraqqa constitutes its main power base in syria. and coalition air strikes have been targeting i.s.i.l. positions in iraq. u.s. commanders say warehouses were targeted near fallujah. logistical support from bahrain saudi arabia and united arab emirates. >>> the fight against i.s.i.l. i should say is basically against a front line of emotional a thousand kilometers and the peshmerga has consistently requested additional bac

. >> close to the strategic village of sultan abdalla near the semi autonomous the area of the. sultan abdalla is aware there was heavy fighting, add one point the peshmerga set they were encircling all of the town, they say there are pockets of resistance in the town. at this front line we've seen some unexploded ordnance. one of the reason some don't want to lose the position is they are using it as a defensive position so peshmerga doesn't move closer to i.s.i.l. it is a source of water for the main town around this place which is not far from here and it is also often the highway to mosul and they say getting control of this village will give them the possibility to cut i.s.i.l. supplies. >> part of the state of i.s.i.l. alliance. >> public against maliki's government are still doing the same position and are still on the same foot. i think mr.-- dr. ah abad you will have a very difficult time to change or sway the atmosphere in those areas. because these are deep political rooted issues. we have to remember, the baath party was strongest in mosul and those baathists make th

. >> a few meters away is the village of sultan abdalla. a few days ago it was a heavy site of fighting between the i.s.i.l. soil and kurdish forces. peshmerga now control the village but it is within the range of i.s.i.l. fire. we were advised against going into the village. >> it is the front line, so occurs with the mortars almost daily, between us and them, it is a very long front. >> they say i.s.i.l. has killed some of their men. a few kilometers behind the sultan abdalla front linings is the village destroyed military vehicles and walls riddled with bullet holes are stark reminders of the battles fought here. in some of the villages recently retain by the peshmerga life is slowly returning to normal as more people feel courageous enough to return to their homes but they are facing many problems. this family remained behind when the rest of the villagers fled. he says they need urgent help. >> translator: we have no food. no fuel, no cooking gas. no electricity and even more essentially, we have no clean water. we appeal to the author

the coalition jets have been bombing the city of sul sultan abdalla. a personnel carrier is one of the targets hit by the jets. from their positions overlooking sultan abdalla opposition loudly cheer. the beginning of air strikes by coalition forces. with i.s.i.l. fighters now repulsed from gwer, erbil the capital of kurdistan's region, the peshmerga tighters say they will never let gwer fall. mohammad adow, al jazeera on the outskirts of erbil. >> also to come on the program back to school under tight security. people who survived the peshawar attack return to class for the first time. >>> and the report from latte on the political crisis overshadowing the commemorations of the 2010 earthquake. been fun stuff. [[vo]] mind-blowing discoveries & >>it's on the edge of impossible. [[vo]] terrifying near-death experiences & >>if it had been higher, it'd hit us. [[vo]] and an exciting future that's closer than you think. >>go from being an air traveller to being a space traveller. >>you see it as the future. >>i see it as inevitable. [[vo]] every monday, jo

what we also know is that the village of sultan abdalla is also close to the strategic i.s.i.l. strong hold of mosul and one of the reasons why maybe the i.s.i.l. fighters don't want to use the village is they're using it as a defensive position so the peshmerga and other fighters don't move closer to mosul. what the peshmerga force is are telling us is it is strategic source of water for the town which is not far from hire and ithere andon the highway to baghdad will give them the opportunity to cut i.s.i.l. supplies. >>> palestineian authorities are accusing israel of trying to starve their people by withholding tax revenues. israel's prime minister has been justifying the move. >> translator: the palestinian authority has chosen to launch a confrontation with the state of israel and we're not sitting idly by. we'll not allow the drag of the idf commanders to the hague. entered an alliance with the hamas war criminals. >> under the 1994 oslo accord it transfers them to the palestinian authority so kit pay its public sector workers. but that means israel can withhold revenues a

the coalition jets have been shelling the area of sultan abdalla. a personnel carrier is one of the targets hit by the jets. from their positions overlook sultan abdalla peshmerga fighters loudly cheer as their option are hit hard. it is i.s.i.l.'s capture of gwer that prompted the beginning of air strikes by coalition forces. with i.s.i.l. forces now repultsed repulsed from gwer, the planned offensive against i.s.i.l. and mosul. l mohammad adow, al jazeera on the outskirts of erbil. >> al jazeera continues to demand the release of its three journalists imprisoned in egypt for more than a year. peter greste, baher mohamed and mohamed fahmy retrial could begin within a month. after months of political uncertainty, afghanistan has finally turned a corner. the government has revealed its full list of cabinet ministers for its unity government. a spokesman for president ashraf ghani, inaugurated in november. ministers will go before parliament for approval. >>> the u.s. is investigating allegations that money it sent to afghanistan to pay police salarie

in another part of sultan abdalla a huge explosion rips through the village.t's a car bomb targeting the peshmerga. more peshmerga enforcements arrive as panic grows. the kurdish forces decide it's time to bring the fieding to an end. -- fighting to an end. rocket propelled grenades are their weapon of choice. detecting no movement inside they set what remains of the house on fire. and for now sultan abdalla is back in peshmerga hands. >> translator: this is a very important village as it is on the banks of the river. the highway to mosul also passes here. it means we can stop i.s.i.l. supplies from this direction. >> reporter: these men know too well that it's commissions like the one here that will decide who eventually wins the war. peshmerga fighters may have met modest gains against i.s.i.l. in recent days but they are not yet estimating their opponents. they say they will have to stop i.s.i.l. from advancing any further or they will enter major towns in the kurdish region. mohamed adow, al jazeera florn northern iraq. >>> 17,00017,000 civilians were kill

one of the key battles is in the village of sultan abdalla. peshmerga forces were reportedly in full control of the village just a few days ago. it lies between the kurdish capital. >> a few hundred mierts away is the village of sultan and la. heavy fighting between the islamic state of iraq and the levant and kurdish peshmerga forces. peshmerga now control the village but it's still within the range of i.s.i.l. fire. we were advised against going into the village. it's a front line so with the mortars almost daily everytake we have a mortar in front because it's a very long front. >> a few kilometers before the sul italian abdalla front line stark reminders of the battles fought here. in some of the villages recently retain by the peshmerga life is slowly returning to normal. as more people feel courageous enough to return to their homes but they are facing many problems. this man and his system remain behind when the rest of his village fled. he says they need urgent hem. >> we have no food, no fuel, no cooking gas no electricity and even mor

. >>> sultan abdalla serves as a second largest highway to mosul. >>> air strikes on i.s.i.l. this time it's targeting the group's headquarters in syria but i.s.i.l. fighters still continue to make gains across syria and iraq even as united states steps up it's assault. it has executed nearly 2,000 people. now, i.s.i.l. controls land if more than a dozen provinces stretching from aleppo in syria down to baghdad in iraq. and the group continues to grow. the cia estimated over the summer that more than 30,000 foreign fighters have joined i.s.i.l. most came from arab countries like tunisia jordan and saudi arabia. some from russia. i.s.i.l. captured the largest oil field al omar, able to produce 75,000 barrels of oil every day. millions have fled more than 3 million have left syria a million each in lebanon and turkey. the u.s. continues to fight back with air strikes, more than 800 in iraq, 500 in syria. on the capital raqqa. including recapturing the critical mosul dam. that is a key site there in iraq. in the last few days be kurdish peshmerga forces, gain ground against i.s.i