within weeks taliban positions crumble. and by november, the last taliban stronghold in the north, a city called kunduz, is under siege. as truckloads of u.s. backed northern alliance fighters barrel to the north, convoys of taliban defectors are seeing fleeing the city, pledging new loyalties. >> translator: in the future i will never take up a gun again because this gun and all this fighting has created disaster for our country. >> reporter: but fast-forward 14 years. despite blood, the loss of more than 2300 american lives, and 26,000 civilians, and treasure, nearly $1 trillion in u.s. spending, there are new signs that the prospects for peace may have already come and gone. the city of kunduz again fell to the taliban. it's a shift in the fight from the taliban's traditional southern home land to this strategic transport hub in the north. which connects afghanistan to form he soviet republics across the region. >> they thought this will be better for them than southern afghanistan because they could easily infiltrate or

hard-core taliban. the intelligence community continues to look at that. what i would say, the afghan security forces have really impacted the taliban this year based on the number of casualties they have caused the taliban. with the afghan national police and local police officers, we visited about that a little yesterday in my office. what you think are the biggest challenges, the reduced weaknesses they have, and will they be able to become the biggest -- weaknesses they have, and will they be able to become professional as we assess what our position is going to be an afghanistan? general campbell: for the police, the number one issue i stress with them is getting the right leadership. the police have several thousand that are untrained, eventual police chiefs. they are doing that to get them out on a checkpoint, get them into the fight. but they've got to get them into the right training to make sure they have that. i think the afghan local police have taken a lot of casualties because they have be

hard-core taliban. the intelligence community continues to look at that. what i would say, the afghan security forces have really impacted the taliban this year based on the number of casualties they have caused the taliban. with the afghan national police and local police officers, we visited about that a little yesterday in my office. what you think are the biggest challenges, the reduced weaknesses they have, and will they be able to become the biggest -- weaknesses they have, and will they be able to become professional as we assess what our position is going to be an afghanistan? general campbell: for the police, the number one issue i stress with them is getting the right leadership. the police have several thousand that are untrained, eventual police chiefs. they are doing that to get them out on a checkpoint, get them into the fight. but they've got to get them into the right training to make sure they have that. i think the afghan local police have taken a lot of casualties because they have be

taliban. the senator ayotte: so they are supporting the taliban right now? gen. campbell: i don't have numbers of how much money. but there have been reports, yes, ma'am. they continue to be a big threat . not only against the coalition but the afghan people. they have traditionally been responsible for the high-profile attacks. .uicide vests they attack innocent civilians. at all levels of our government, from the dod to the white house. express that they should do more not to provide sanctuary inside pakistan. we have to continue to keep the pressure on. make sure pakistan understands there is a common enemy. shouldstan and pakistan work together. terrorism knows no boundaries. the iranian assistance to the taliban increased or decreased or stayed the same? gen. campbell: i would tell you we sought a few months ago as there was increased fighting, but i could not tell you if that was more or less than before. workank you for your hard in a difficult place. when the most expensive things has always been to have to take the same ground twice. we want to look at t

the taliban may have pulled out of kunduz. they are on the offensive elsewhere in afghanistan, right? >> that's right, since monday morning they controlled the highway, linking the cities, they controlled the highway. . hundreds have been stranded for about two days, a new offensive, a taliban attack killing 21 police men. and they tried to take the cities, propelled by the forcers. the taliban are making themselves felt around afghanistan. they may have pulled out of kunduz, but they are in theural areas, but along the major highway in the south, linking kabul to kandahar. fighting has been going on for more than a year. very active. >> thank you so much. jennifer glasse from kabul. >> three turkish police ofibles have been sacked. 97 people have been killed and 500 injured at a peace rally, the president recep tayyip erdogan has visited the site of the blast to pay mrespects and was accompanied by the president of finland. dozens have been targeted and i.s.i.l. is believed to be behind the attack. >> reporter: the australian

outside of afghanistan, the taliban, the afghan taliban, not the pakistani taliban but the afghan taliban attacked western interests outside of the country. i.s.i.l. is a completely different situation. so i that i we really have to come to an agreement on what our strategy's going to be, how our counterterrorism forces are going to work against i.s.i.l. and what i.s.i.l.'s plans are before we can answer your very pertinent question. >> jim hanson can we put a couple of bullet-point goals down to say to the american people so we know roughly what the mission is and how long it's going to take? >> that would be counter to the entire concept of what we should be doing which is looking at this as a long war. and given the fact that our enemies are not just limited, if it was just the taliban, again that would be a different story. but as professor johnson says it is i.s.i.l, it is all of the bad guys banning together. the problem that president obama made for himself was the idea that you can end wars. you can't end a war. you can end your participation or how you fight a war. but the enemy

the taliban had been harassing his city.hey controlled the main highway between kabul and kandahar stranding thousands of people along that road. the taliban fighting resurgence around the country, not only in the south and east where they have been strong, but also in the north. the taliban treated from kunduz saying it was doing so to minimize civilian casualty and to preserve its fighters for future operations, and warned it could go back at anytime. so afghans very much on edge about a resurgent taliban arrange the country. ♪ >>> i'm del walters live in new york city. we are going to take it back from our partners in doha, that is because president obama as you can see by the shot that you are looking at right there will be making an announcement soon involving troop withdrawal from afghanistan. here now, the president of the united states, as you can see flanked by the vice president and defense secretary ash carter. >> good morning. last december more than 13 years after our nation was attacked by al-qaeda on 9/11, ame

who is the taliban today? >> sir, thanks. the taliban had a spiritual leader.had been there for years and years. whether they -- they did not see him for many years. there has been a big lie that he had been passing on guidance. many of the taliban feel that they trusted somebody that wasn't there. they are disenfranchised. they want to do something about it. they are fighting back because they knew monsour was the guy that had something do with this. there are fractures within the taliban. they are trying to take control of a piece of it. the taliban are very decentralized. they do operations that are very decentralized. monsour is trying to get a group there. he has named i think as senator mccain talked about and senator reed, he named a deputy. he has -- so there seems to be steam over the omar piece to coalesce and get a group. they have issues with funding, working together, leadership issues. in the east, as we have seen a rise of daesh or isil kp, it has been reported in a lot of provinces. but in the east is where they have been. that's where they want

and senior leaders in taliban banks, in taliban leader, they thought they were cheated. that's why they did the division amongst the taliban leadership. >> rose: the division of whether to negotiate or not, did we assume mullah omar was in favor with negotiation with the afghan government or not? >> he didn't believe in a negotiated settlement, but the division is first. why it was kept secret from the taliban because in the eyes of a lot of taliban foot soldiers, he was the legitimate king of all muslims, and in their own perception with a legitimate mandate. later on they learned he was did, already. then negotiations were conducted and when they asked who has authorized the negotiations, they were told it was mullah omar. and then they learned he was dead. >> rose: what does this all mean for the future of the taliban and its political and military positioning that he is no longer there in terms of their own public acknowledgment? >> taliban, in that organization, will never be the same because there were different groups amongst them, but all of them had accepted mul

it was the taliban's biggest military victory in 14 years.ennifer glass is in kabul. >> reporter: the taliban says it left kunduz city to avoid civilian casualties and to preserve the strength of its fighter for what it says will be future operations. their presence will have long-lasting implications, because they targeted government officials, women activists and journalists, causing many to flee. this woman says she became a journalist to show other women there are opportunities in afghanistan. she loved her job as a reporter in kunduz until the taliban came and forced her to leave. she fled to kabul, leaving most of her family behind. after she left her father was killed in the fighting. >> translator: i couldn't go to his funeral, the road was unsafe, and also i'm too recognizable. my mother was grieving. i was the only breadwinner for the family. i could not go and see my father for the last time. >> reporter: she had been threatened even before the taliban entered kunduz city. the fighters raided the station and stole all of the equipm

also some members of taliban and senior members in taliban tanks, taliban leadership, thought they wereheated. that is why there is division amongst the taliban. charlie: is that division about whether to negotiate or not? do we assume that mullah omar was in favor of negotiating or not? dr. abdullah: he did not believe in negotiating settlement. he didn't. but the division's first. , why was it kept secret from the taliban? because, war was conducted in the eyes of a lot of taliban foot soldiers, he was the legitimate -- he was like the , king of all muslims, and in their own perception with a legitimate mandate. later on they learned their imam was already dead and negotiations were conducted when asked who has authorized negotiations, they were told that it was mullah omar. then they learned that that was not true. charlie: what does this mean for the future of the taliban and and its political and military positioning, that he is no longer there in terms of his own , public acknowledgment? dr. abdullah: taliban, in their organization, will never be the same. because, there were diff

why is the taliban so successful now in afghanistan? maybe even more successful than it's been over 14 years? >> well, i mean, the international troop presence is, you know, pretty much at an all-time low. it's not just u.s. troops that have drawn down to a much lower level. it's our nato allies as well. so we're not talking about, you know, that, you know, some sort of -- the taliban has taken -- let's put it in perspective. in the last 14 years, the taliban has taken one city for two weeks. this is not like isis taking mosul, the second largest city in iraq, or taking fallujah or ramadi or any other big iraqi cities. yes, they've had one battlefield success, certainly not to be discounted. but the last 14 years have not been that militarily successful for the taliban writ large. >> why did the u.n. in its new report say taliban is in more parts in afghanistan than at any point going back to 2001? >> i'm sure that's true. the u.n. has a good record of these kinds of assessments. being in a lot of places doesn't mean you control large c

that happened before kunduz fell to the taliban on september 28th.he after security forces saying they needed international help. they said the fall wasn't so much about the strength of the taliban, but about the shortcoming of afghan security forces. those forces in the country right now will remain through part of 2016 and then generals here will decide how they will be drawn down to 5500 troops in 2017. it's a big shift for the obama administration, not just in numbers, but also in terms of where those forces will be stationed. they were initially suppo suppose -- onlying a thousand forces were supposed to stay after 2017 based at the u.s. embassy just behind me. instead they will stay here in kabul, north of kabul, in eastern afghanistan, and kandahar. so the u.s. maintaining a presence around afghanistan through 2017. the afghan officials welcoming this move, saying it will help, not only with any current situation with the taliban, but also with the fight against terrorism. the taliban have been fighting not only in the north, but managed to ta

i don't let her go out alone. >> the taliban has pulled out of kunduz, but there are taliban fighters in surrounding districts. she doesn't think it will ever be safe to go back. >> i thought the taliban would behave well toward ordinary people but i was wrong. people who work with media, social activists and especially women, the taliban will never treat them properly. once again the dark agion that the people of afghanistan experienced in the past could happen again. >> the director of the t.v. station does want to return to kunduz and rebuild, but it won't be easy. the taliban stole about $100,000 worth of equipment, much of it came from international donors. >> the international community gave lots have aid in the past, but the situation has changed and i think the assistance won't be like it used to be. >> the taliban has threatened employees of kabul's two most popular television stations because of their reporting in kunduz and taliban too fast continue around the country with an offensive tuesday night killed 21 afghan policemen. the taliban control the main road between kabul

taliban. there are 45, 48 different factions of the taliban. >> a different. taliban? >> it is strategic. let me get back to you. sorry. let me ask ask you this. you talk about a different type of taliban. what is behind their resurgence? what factors have contributed to their resurgence? >>. >> you have al-qaeda, taliban over on the pakistan side and they are all sort of interspersed and cooperating in various ways. they have different goals, of course. some of them are very national. others of them are interested in an international islamic state. so afghanistan will be the first order of business in that regard. >> do you think briefly the afghan government will be able to take them off wait foreign help? >> they ah ve only been in power for a month. that's a difficult question i think many are wondering the same thing. we see a discrepancy in how to go about handling the situation. >> is that pakistan has been pushing for peace talks. if anybody knows how to deal with taliban, they are the only ones whoever successful defeated the taliban. they have done it several

the taliban told them this morning to leave the area because taliban are telling them they are going to stay and fight. the residents have a problem, all the shops are closed, many markets have been burned and also shortage of no water, no electricity. >> so the battle is raging, isn't it. given that nato is calling this possibly collateral damage, do we know whether this hospital facility was a direct target by the air raids or was this an unintentional consequence of targeting another area? >> well, we know that the small city and taliban are living in the residential area even close to this hospital. what the government officials are telling us, the taliban have some movement near the hospital when the bombardment happened. it is very clear that no one knows what is the target because taliban and government are now mixed. they are close to each other. like one in three controlled by government. seeing that, it could be a mistake, it could be a target nearby. it's hard to tell for now. >> now it's normally a city of around 300,000 residents. how many people, roughly, would you say

the enemy is the taliban. that's black and white, because the taliban came into the city, they slaughtered people. there are still dead bodies on the streets of kunduz, civilians, soldiers, even taliban soldiers, you know, there are dead bodies all over the place. people have been traumatized, terrorized, they have been slaughtered. women have been raped, and killed, so the enemy clearly is the taliban. it's not the u.s. military or government. >> i want to ask you a bigger picture question, and that is about american troops in afghanistan. as you know, there are plans for almost all of them to leave by the end of next year. are you worried that the taliban are reis your gent in afghanistan and that will affect causes like yours, which is to advocate for women in that country? >> absolutely, afghanistan is not ready for american troops to leave, you know, and afghan government and security forces are definitely not ready to take on the taliban. the afghan people wants the american presence in afghanistan. we n

can they really clear out all of the taliban?he towns people decided to side with the taliban against the local police and government. we heard reports from residents in the town that the electricity was cut and water was cut. food prices going up two or three times for the price of regular food i tems. the government has to get the basic services up and running. the taliban will not give up entirely. we can see them mount counter attacks. now the government does have control over most of the city. >> the help with the u.s. and nato advisors on the ground. thank you for that, nic robertson. >>> the u.s. spending trillions in afghanistan and iraq. the investment is not a great look this week. east coast flood. record rainfall happening as hurricane joaquin gains strengths. we are tracking the storms next. >>> the east coast flooded and it could be just a preview of what's to come. this happening and hurricane joaquin gaining strength. >>> an unpredictable new phase in the four-year long civil war. russia launching air strikes in s

our troops are not engaged in major ground combat against the taliban. those missions now belong to afghans who are fully responsible for securing their country. but, as i've said before, while america's combat mission in afghanistan may be over, our commitment to afghanistan and its people endures. as commander in chief i will not allow afghanistan to be used as a safe haven for terrorist to attack our nation again. +our forces will remain engaged into narrow, but critical missions. training afghan forces and supporting counterterrorist operations against the remnants of al qaeda. of course, compared to the 100,000 troops we once had in afghanistan, today fewer than 10,000 remain in support of these very focused missions. i meet regularly with my national security team, including commanders in afghanistan to assess honestly the situation on the ground. to determine where our strategy is working and where we may need greater flexibility. i have insisted consistently that our strategy focus on the development of a sustainable afghan capacity and self-suff

had bombed the hospital and it was the taliban, and -- in fact the taliban was bombing -- the talibanttacking with bombs, the taliban attacks with suicide bombs all the time. the u.s. would do what it has been doing here in afghanistan, trying to help the people who are fighting the taliban. you have to remember that it was just over a month and a half ago that there was a taliban bombing here in kabul that killed over a hundred people, and wounded 600. in that was always a horrible tragedy. the key here is to end the war and stop the fighting. >> all right. let's look at the bigger picture for the moment. what does this tell us about the state of the afghan government, and the u.s. operation to help the afghan government, given that the taliban took an entire city, and it has taken over a week to get them out again. they are still not cleared out of there. >> yes. the united states administration made a decision to pull out of afghanistan before the afghan forces were ready. the afghan forces have not been able to repel all of the taliban attacks. this summer has seen the largest tal

we say we are going after the taliban. the worst possible thing could be the taliban coming back. we should remember that in 1996 at the end of five years of civil war inside of afghanistan, after the long-standing war between the u.s. and the soviet union waged as a proxy war in afghanistan, the taliban were actually welcomed by large majorities of the population not because of but despite their horrific extremisist approacheso law, to the treatment of women, et cetera, not because people welcomed that but because despite that it was seen as way of ending the war. they promised to end the civil war, and they did so for a while. in that context the others supported by the u.s., the other side, not the taliban, are almost as bad in many ways. the treatment of women is not limited to the extremists of the taliban. outside of the very center of kabul, the treatment of women is not all that different. we still see afghanistan as either the worst or the second worst country in the world for women to give birth and survive. for a child to be born and have the chance of surviving to age

she loved her job in kunduz, until the taliban came and forced her to leave.d to kabul, leaving most of her family behind. after she left her father was killed in the fighting. >> translator: i couldn't go to his funeral. the road was unsafe and also i'm too recognizable. my mother was grieving. i was the only breadwinner for the family. because of all of this, i could not go and see my father for the last time. >> reporter: she had been threatened even before the taliban entered kunduz city. their righters raided the station and stole all of the equipment, records, and video files. a few photos are all that remains. now her fiance in kabul is worried. >> translator: now that she is here. when i go out with her, i feel we are in danger, and i don't let her go out alone. >> reporter: the taliban have pulled of kunduz city, but she says there are taliban fighters in surrounding districts, and she doesn't think it will ever be safe to go back. >> translator: i thought the taliban would behave well towards ordinary people, but was wrong. people who work with media

a major reversal, as the taliban presents new security threats. a meeting of the mind, european leaders gather with a very full agenda, and germany order as recall of nearly 2.2 million cars but growing scandal over emissions. >> this is al jazeera america live. i am tony harris. a major reversal from the white house. on the plan to withdraw troops from afghanistan. president obama says the u.s. will now keep a hand full of bases open through 2017. the u.n. security region, the the current force just under 10,000 troops will stay on through most of next year. they will cut back to 5500 troops by the time he leaves office. that scales back the previous plan which would have seen that number go down to 1,000. al jazeera natural security force, from the pentagon, tell us more about the new strategy, and then what promised the change. this about face comes in face of this the fall of con dui that was held by the taliban briefly just for about two weeks. they insist this is something that has been in the work for months that he was con sacramentoing wi

the taliban have managed to retake some of the areas they lost overnight.t troops backed by nato forces and u.s. airstrikes were in control of parts of kunduz three days after the taliban took over the city. at least 50 people, mostly civilians were killed. and more than 300 others were injured. well, let's get the latest now and speak to al jazeera's correspondent joining us from about 130 clocksters from kunduz. the last few hours have been a bit confusing. at first the government was able to retake some of the areas the taliban had been in control of. now it seems the taliban has taken some of the areases back . >> reporter: let me tell you the big problem. civilians got caught between the two sides, both sides are using artillery and machine guns. and i talked with a hospital they say they keep receiving dead and injured people and cannot identify them. they are facing shortages. because many doctors and staff left the area. it looks very big crisis there in the hospital. now, the fighting is going on again since this morning. toll ban claims that they

all we're doing is training eventually members of the taliban. trainers are doing a wonderful job but we don't have the time to make come we don't have the time to make an army. and he closed by saying everyday somebody dies. my question to you, we are faced with a debt of $18 trillion. we're going to be debating in about a month debt ceiling increase so we can borrow more money from foreign governments primarily to pay the bills for last year. the american taxpayer has got to know at some point in time there's going to be an and to this investment. money, blood, there's got to be an end to it. and that's something you were saying a while ago, and this is going to lead to the question. at some time i've been hearing for 15 years from the generals like yourself that training the afghans to be policemen and security forces, it's going pretty well. it's a little fragile but it's going pretty well. it's been going pretty well for 15 years. that's not a criticism that i'm just making an observation. we at some point in time as a nation and members of

. >> the taliban has regained some of the territory it lost. what's the latest you're hearing? >> the latest information that we are getting from kunduz city, now that the government of afghanistan controls the city center, city center of kunduz city, but the taliban is still resistant around the center of kunduz city. people are complaining about they're being attacked, the civilians. afghanistan security forces are not alone today. they were helped by nato special forces on the ground and also very strong air support by nato. both sides are using artillery, heavy machine guns, and also nato support are bombing the area. it's the civilians caught in in between. the taliban are hiding in the residential areas. >> the government says that it will not stop fighting the taliban until it's removed them completely from kunduz province, but the government has been heavily criticized for the way it's been dealing with the situation. lots of calls for resignations. >> exactly, shirley. taliban today, they also attack a couple of other districts around

the taliban are simply hiding in the residential area.hat taliban did today, they attacked a couple of other districts. they captured a district in the north of kunduz city, and another district where we are standing, so the taliban are trying to spread the fight in the north in many locations to get out the focus from kunduz. >>> yemeni government forces backed by the saudi-lead coalition have retaken ma'rib dam. while the gain is the biggest, fighting is just growing more complicated in the rest of the country. mohammed jamjoom reports. >> reporter: as the war grinds on in yemen, the terrain gets more complicated, and the toll more severe. here in yemen's central ma'rib province, forces are claiming what they call a strategic victory. backed by saudi-lead coalition air support and after days of heavy fighting, they retook control of the ma'rib dam from houthi forces. their same is to cut supply routes. their celebratory mood is clearly on display. >> translator: we are now at the dam, and we will advance, god willing. [ inaudible ]. soo

fighting raged in city as the taliban mounted a fierce resistance. officials announced thursday that military troop had reached the central area of kunduz and regained control. >> translator: in coordination with the afghan security forces we managed to clear all parts of kunduz of the taliban. right now we are in the main square of kunduz and i am asking residents to resume their normal lives. >> reporter: a taliban spokesperson responded saying its soldiers are fighting back in central kunduz and still control the rest of the city. this is the first time that the major african city has been sized by militants since the taliban regime collapsed in 2001. the african people and international community were shocked at the fall of the country's fifth most populous city. most of the u.s.-led coalition combat troops pulled out of the country by december of last year and the u.s. troop withdrawal is scheduled to be complete by the end of next year. but a temporary fall of kunduz has called washington's plan into question. abdullah abdullah established a un

the taliban claimed that was not the taliban claimed that was not the case, they had withdrawn to other neighbouring provinces before a counterattack. aid workers fear many more civilians will be killed or injured. >> translation: i live in kunduz province, there are injured people in the streets. shops are burnt. i urge both sides to stop the fighting so wounded can be taken to hospital and everyone else can leave. the doctors without borders is the only specialist trauma center in north-eastern afghanistan. the damage caused by a bombing attack is a blow to people who rely on the free life-saving treatment that the hospital provides >>> we can talk to our correspondent who is in kunduz province. this is increasingly looking like a terrible mistake by u.s. planes with tragic consequences for the people of kunduz. >> yes, very heavy, brutal fighting going on almost in every street of kunduz city. residents are the ones paying the price. civilians are caught in between. they are telling us heavy bombard , use of artillery and machine gun. they don't know where it is controlled by who. in

the taliban target. the taliban kill innocent women and children. the taliban put suicide vests on little kids and hold their mother or father hostage and say you're going to blow yourself up. i know the afghan people don't want that. they want a secure afghanistan. and they have -- they have that hope because of the afghan security forces and because of the great work that the great men and women do. >> thank you. mr. chairman, in closing, i think it is dangerous to ask the service members to go on this nation building mission across the region and something that we have got to look at carefully. thank you. >> i appreciate the comments of the gentle lady. i went to highlight for members, week after next we'll spend a week in this committee looking at train and equip around a variety of countries and what's worked and hasn't. are there lessons to learn? this is a very important issue we need to dig down deeper on because there are a number of instances where it's not worked very well and we need to understand that. so i appreciate the comments. mr.

taliban here. also there is the fact that u.s. forces will remain in bases around the country. the original plan was to draw down to a small force of a thousand by 2016. but instead those forces will remain in bases around the country. here north of kabul in the east of the country, and in kandahar to the south. so not just the numbers, but also a presence of u.s. forces around the country. >> what does this suggest about the security situation at the moment? >> reporter: well, the security situation is really very difficult right now. just last month the taliban took kunduz city and held it for about two weeks. that was their biggest military advance since 2001. and they withdrew saying they were doing it to prevent civilian casualties, they say they could come back at anytime. we have seen the taliban active on the highway between kabul and kandahar. they held that highway for a number of days, standing thousands. they tried to launch an assault on gozny city. and more than 20 afghan policemen ki

why taliban suddenly try to get control of many area?i want to say if you are in the picture, nowadays they are getting more and trying to capture several districts, especially the districts which are near the center of kunduz city and the center of bacalan province. >> what is the aim of taliban? what do they want to try to achieve? >> nowadays, they want to have artillery, weapons for continuing their war with the afghan national forces. in fact, they have their own aim. >> so you are talking about they are trying to capture ammunition. what about the jail break? we are hearing there is a threat for a jail in bacalon province. what do you think? who are they? who is in this jail? who are the prisoners? you know that during the last four or five years, afghan national security forces with several of taliban, senior commanders, their senior governors and different district of bacalon province. they want to have a change for coming back off to the area. but the government won't accept that we were witness of change. >> thank you very much

that strategic spot in northern afghanistan was seized by the taliban on monday.he interior ministry now says an operation to take back the city is under way but that it could take days. catherine james told us more from kabul. news this morning was announced by the government with pictures of them removing the taliban flag from the city square. they claimed they had retaken the city and so it seemed. however, there have been numerous reports of sporadic gunfire throughout parts of the city where the taliban have maintained a base so to speak or just cover in civilian homes. and there have also been reports that they have forced civilians to fight with them in some cases. so the broader battle around the actual province is expected to be ongoing for some time. genie: let's talk more about that. the fighting is not focused just on kunduz. it is throughout the province as well. >> that's right. for the taliban and to take the city itself on monday, it has been a long time coming and what fore iscoming to the that the last up to two years, they have in establishing t

the taliban will never treat them properly.n the dark ages that the people of afghanistan experienced in the past could happen again. >> reporter: the director of the tv station says he wasn't want to return to kunduz and rebuild. but it won't be easy. the taliban stole about $100,000 worth of equipment, much of it came from international donors. >> translator: the international community gave lots of aid in the past, but the situation has changed, and i think the assistance won't be like it used to be. >> reporter: the taliban have threatened employees of the two most popular television stations because of their reporting in kunduz, and tool ban offenses continue arrange the country. an offensive on tuesday killed 21 afghan policemen and the taliban still control the main road between kabul and kandahar, the country's two largest cities, stranding hundreds of passengers along the road, and stopping transit between the cities, and although their attack on monday night on gasny city, the taliban continue to fire rockets on gasny

first of all, the taliban as it exists today is not the taliban that existed on 9/11. is a generic term at this point, it is likely next is a brand, but everyone calls it that even if the brand isn't cleantech's come a that you're buying facial tissue or something. a much broader term. i think part of it has to do with the fact that people are sick of the occupation that the taliban are actually muslims rather than white guys in camouflage kicking down doors, and i think the taliban actually do have indigenous support in some parts of the country. large swaths of the country, actually. ,nd there also brutal thugs gangsters, murderers. but i think in part, the u.s. has dramatically misread, as it did in iraq and how ordinary people are going to respond. and i think that opened the door for the taliban and to retake power in parts of the country. thinksa the president that just by extending this that there is going to be some markedly different outcome, i think it is a bankrupt belief. juan: it also appears to be his attempt to prevent the development in afghanistan that

the fall of kunduz shows the strength of the taliban. it's something they knew before the fall of kunduz. the taliban is active in many parts of the country, because they have been virtually cleared out from and getting closer kabul as well. they saw that reality on the ground communicated to the president. this is not just an extension of troop presence but also an expansion. it is isis on the ground there. the administration will refer to these as countermilitary operations. u.s. troops are still militarily active on the ground in afghanistan and now they have a new adversary because isis is building its presence there as well, which speaks to this question, how long do those troops stay beyond 2017? what will the necessity be? will keeping fewer than 10,000 troops on the ground for another year and a half dramatically change the situation on the ground? that's going to be a question for the next president. i'll tell you one more thing, in the background here, thoughts of iraq. necessity have to be. remember, this is a president who pu

troops will stay in afghanistan to combat a resurging taliban. ♪ hello, i'm marian and you are watchingjazeera live from london and also coming up, the syrian army launches a major offensive north of the strategic city of homs. leaders agree a multi-billion dollar deal with turkey to stem the flow of syrian refugees into europe and why surviving snake bites may become difficult in parts of africa. ♪ now, the u.s. president has announced a major shift in policy in afghanistan saying more troops will remain on the ground there through 2017. president obama says afghan forces are doing well but they are still not strong enough. there are currently 9800 u.s. troops in afghanistan, most of them were meant to be withdrawn by the end of next year. the u.s. is now expected to keep 5 1/2 thousand troops in the country when obama leaves office in 2017 and focus on counter terrorism and training afghan forces. military leaders meanwhile have been pushing for more u.s. support especially after taliban fighters captured kunduz for three days and we will speak to roslyn jordan shortly but first here

it was the first major city to fall to the taliban back in 2001. >> the taliban easily seized the city. nato forces backed the afghan effort to retake the city. two of the city's six districts are still under taliban control. we have a reporter with the guardian newspaper in kabul joining us now live. afghan authorities said they are now in control of kunduz, but the key question is whether afghan forces can hold onto it as well as clear out the taliban hiding out in the surrounding area. how likely is that? >> reporter: well, i think eventually they will clear out the insurgents inside the city. there's fighting going on around the police head quarters which is a pretty central place in kunduz. the districts around kunduz district itself are still contested. as you said, the taliban are only effectively in control of two of them. that doesn't mean there's not fighting going on potentially later, and there's still parts of the districts under taliban control. the problem here, and the crucial question is if the government security forces are able to exert authority and get people suppo

they have stormed the city taking back control from taliban insurgents. the group says that's not the case. al jazeera has more. >>reporter: the afghan army say they have retaken the northern city but the taliban claim that's not the case. that they've just withdrawn to other neighborhoods before a counterattack. they say right now they don't want anything except security. >> we want the government to security the city. the situation wasn't good in the city so i managed to escape but still some of my family are trapped there. i don't want anything else from the government. we just want a secure country. >>reporter: the interior ministry says afghan forces will not stop fighting until the whole province is back in their control. they're being supported by nato and u.s. special forces and they could be getting unexpected help. a former commander is trying to rally support for the army and called on all afghans to join the fight against the taliban. >> there are security issues around the country threatening districts and villages in most part. i urge the pe

thousands of afghans fled when the taliban came in to the city.ng most of the journalists in the city. the taliban targeted many of those journalists and many activists in those connected to the government. >> jennifer, i understand there has been another incidents. this time in helmand province. >> reporter: that's right. the taliban are operating on a number of front here in afghanistan, the latest in helmand province overnight. they attacked killing 21 policemen in that assault. and the taliban still hold parts of highway 1, that's the main highway that links all of afghanistan's main cities there blocking the road and have been since very early monday morning between kabul and kandahar, hundreds of afghans trap odd that road unable to travel between afghanistan's two largest cities and this morning the taliban launched a number of rocket attacks on goss knee steed that was foiled needn't might. reinforcements in there, but the cal ban making their presence felt all around afghanistan. >> jennifer, thanks very much indeed. jennifer glasse live

now taliban seems that they are spreading the war in the north of the country, just few hours ago, taliban control of another district. afghan government confirmed that too. in the past three days that is the fourth district that taliban are capturing from afghan government in the neighboring provinces. residences of kunduz province are now leaving, because we talked with couple of them, they are telling us that life is impossible to survive in kunduz city anymore. it is not only the heavy boment bardment and artillery. it is also the shortage of food, water, lack of electricity. that's why all of the residences are leaving the province. >>> yemen is breaking its diplomatic ties with iran. the president made the announcement on state television. it comes after saudi-lead coalition made significant gains over the houthi in the last week. >>> benjamin netenyahu has named a shooting near an illegal jewish settlement in the occupied west bank on palestinian incitement. he says a couple was killed when a palestinian gunman opened fire on their car. the shooting comes as tennings between israeli