saw reports of taliban fighters being accused of rape. the militant group dennous ounced the two channels as satantic media, dealing in propagandaa and threatening to kill journalists from the both. >> they have been very critical of the taliban does wasn't until the fall of is kundus, it involved anger and the taliban claimed that this was a lie and this is the reason that they said, okay. tolos employees and channel one employees are military targets from now on. >> i think the main fear of taliban is that if people know what they are doing, because they are saying something and then doing quite different. that's why they are very angry because tolo t.v. was broadcasting what really taliban have done. >> what we did was to report what we were seeing and what we were hearing. we did a lot of sessions with our staff right after the threat to ensure that they are well-informed about it, they are careful. so we took it very, very seriously. but unfortunately, a t.v. channel cannot protect the roads of a city of 5 million people where every

one by government forces, many by taliban fighters. the group has moved out of the media dark ages, establishing a website and a presence on twitter, but like any political movement, the taliban does not speak with one voice or adhere to one policy. that is reflected in its approach to the news media. >> the taliban are not the media despising monsters. before they were known for not allowing any media at all but it has been a few years that they are very active and they try to change the narrative by publishing their own information as kind of a counter information because most of the information journalists get is either by the afghan government or by n.a.t.o. so they try to change that. >> translation: i think that we should is the taliban what it is they do not want us to cover, but as journalists, it is our duty to cover the latest events. the taliban are entitled to their views, but what is important to us is to portray the injustices that exist and uncover the latest events with an unbiassed outlook. it is our job to let everyon

>> the taliban? >> yeah. >> their rhetoric certainly suggests that they intend to try to once again rule afghanistan as they did during the '90s. their official title, of course, is, they call themselves the islamic emirate of afghanistan, and so we have seen, including in such preliminary, the preliminary talks that took place in murray in july, that the taliban does, indeed, assert national aspirations, but it's perhaps not surprising that they would do so. >> in terms of troop level and, senator perdue asked about specifically the troop level of the 9,800 troops currently until the end of '16. the administration originally it was only about 1,000 troops by the end of '16. given the current security situation, the increased violence, does the state department believe that the united states should go down to 5,500 troops after 2016? or 1,000? or what are your thoughts on the numbers? >> well, as the president has announced, we will have 9,800 troops through most of 2016, through the bulk of the figh

. >>> peace talks with the taliban. el chapo's capture. mexican government releases dramatic video on the raid on the kingpin's hideout, it could take a long time before he's extradited to the u.s. >>> and royal trial. >> i want them to be tried as ordinary people. they took public money at a time when people were struggling. >> princess christina makes history as the first member much the modern spanish monarchy to face criminal charges. good evening, i'm antonio mora, this is al jazeera's international news hour. tonight we begin with new developments in the growing humanitarian crisis in syria. in the last six weeks more than two dozen people have reportedly starved to death in madaya. today a convoy of red crescent trucks carrying food and supplies arrived this, the first delivery since october. the assad regime is disputing meanwhile the severity of the situation. the ambassador to the u.n. blames the fabrication of the media on the troubles in his country jamie mcintire john kerry. >> we need full access and we are raising it with al

but the pakistani government has been fighting the taliban there for years and they are still the taliban are still able to mount these great attacks. so what it really calls for in addition to arm guards and greater security checks is increased intelligence and the ability to thwart these attacks before they happen. the pakistani intelligence service, pervasive as it is is really not able to do that. >> so what do they need to do both to prevent these intelligence as you say, but do? you know the security forces there were so prevalent i guess in pakistani life, why can't they prevent this? >> well, sometimes the prevalence of security forces, christine, is not an indicator of greater safety. in fact, it's the exact opposite. and in many countries, where you see a lot of security, a lot of invisible security, you are actually going to find a greater danger for the population at large. the only thing that is going to help them in the long run is a political settlement and the pakistani government is a long way from that, of course, attacks like this, will harden positions on both sides an

>> well, ultimately of course the taliban seek power.c consensus building in this country. this is civil war, primarily between the pashtun and other ethnic groups. afghanistan is a mess. it really isn't a federally governed state. it is in a meltdown position now. it's hard to imagine that -- the afghan army and police, which are kept alive through external financial resources and advice, and u.s. air power, it's really going to hold its state together. very troublesome. hard to see that the obama administration right now can do much more than try and not have it collapse on their watch. >> how do you do that, general? when you have so many different forces vying for power, when you have no real possibilities of a negotiated situation in the future and you have a country that you and mikey and everybody have so accurately described as really a disaster. the soviets learned during the '80s that you just can't go in there and change things around but how do you deal with something that seems ungovernable, and yet at the same time must be

will pave the way to include the taliban.eh has the news from kabul sphwhrp the meeting was described as significant. delegates from afghanistan, pakistan, united states and china but none from the taliban. they will be invited later if a framework deal is eventually agreed. the aim of monday's talks was to agree on a road map to achieve peace with taliban. pakistani leaders say the aim is to get the most powerful group in the country to negotiate after given incentives to abandon violence. >> it is therefore important that preconditions not be attached to the start of the negotiation process. this in our view will be counterproductive. secondly proper sequencing of the actions, should be significant in paving the way with direct talks from the taliban group. >> in kabul, the taliban group says the meeting is important. >> open to all those groups, that are willing to come to the negotiation table. but with those who do not come to the negotiation table, both countries have already agreed to work out some very practical and s

drones in afghanistan. >> let me ask you about the taliban. monday, we understand that representatives from afghanistan, pakistan, the u.s. as well as china all meeting in china to agree on a roadmap forward for peace with the taliban. what he said your assessment of what will happen with that? >> i believe it's time for all parties to come together and resolve this issue be, because the taliban have also threatened by isil in afghanistan, as well as the afghan government, it's time for the afghan and pakistani territories to come together and try to set up a a mechanism in order to bring taliban on the peace negotiation table, because otherwise, the afghan government and also the taliban will face a new phenomenon that they will have difficulties to prevent them from gaining territory and from becoming a main trip to taliban and pakistan. >> thank you. >>> in yemen, medical surprise reached taiz for the first time in five months. doctors without borders managed to get the shipment to the besieged city. it has seen some of the worst fighting i

local afghan security forces can't defeat the taliban on their own. the strategy is to take advantage. the propaganda video shows fighters celebrating recent victories and say the rise in attacks is a war tactic to gain a stronger negotiating position. >> they will pursue two parallel strategies, the strategy of fighting on the battlefield and that whatever they achieve, that they would reinforce their position in peace talks. >> other factors could be causing the taliban to negotiate. it covered heavy losses over the years and it's now divided. the announcement in july that long time leader had died two years earlier has rattled the group. some members split and refused toisech the new leader mansour. now there is a momentum for peace. last week representatives from pakistan, the u.s., china and afghanistan met in islamabad to agree on a roadmap for talks with the taliban. a second meeting is expected in kabul. >> the taliban's objective at peace talks is to restore themselves into legitimate political actors while maintaining their military identity

there has been a spurt in attacks by the taliban's pakistani - by the pakistani taliban in recent weeks. 11 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up on tuesday. last week some schools in peshawar were closed. reports that fighters were reporting an attack. in december at least 26 people were killed when a taliban suicide bomber blew himself up outside a government office in north-western pakistan. we've been hearing from retired pakistan army general who says pakistan needs to improve intelligence and manage borders better >> the best thing is to improve intelligence, improve the security forces, get the full cooperation of the people because unless you have the full cooperation of the people, it's very difficult to target them. then also, of course, manage the border between afghanistan and pakistan and also make sure that you have really good relations and confidence between afghanistan and pakistan, especially the security forces because if they can cooperate at the intelligence level and at the operation level, much more can be achieved, but as you know there is a hi

>> yeah. >> stephen: did you call 1-800-taliban? how does one get in touch with the taliban? >> well... someone who actually has connections with the taliban. >> stephen: who would that be, sarah. let me write this down so i can call the authorities here. who do you know who has connections with the taliban? >> so we have been working with this wonderful reporter, so he's based in islamabad, and he knows all these guys. he grew up with a lot of them. >> stephen: so you pick up the phone and call and the taliban picks up? >> what you have do, actually, is because they're all worried about being listened to, seam had to get him basically a burper phone to do it. so that we could safely -- >> what was it like? first of all, do, they listen to the podcast? >> i mean, sammy told me, yeah, that they have listened to it, yeah. ( applause ). >> stephen: and-- and-- do they like it? ( laughter ) >> i mean,. >> stephen: do they like it? >> yeah. >> stephen: that's aeate blurb-- "the taliban likes it." you're going to two a week now, right? aren't you going to two a week now? >> well, t

is it under taliban control? and in the second question, your reference to the 215th corps needing to be rebuilt, retrained and so forth, did that corps collapse on the battlefield? what happened to that corps? >> well, bob, let me answer the second part of your question first on 215th corps then go to marjah and helmand. so the problems in 215th corps were several. they had problems with equipment maintenance, they had problems with units that had been atritted, they had problems with poor leadership. what we have found when units have an issue with attrition, it typically is traced back to poor leadership and there are three fundamental things that have to happen in a unit. soldiers have to be paid on time, fed on time and be given leave when they deserve leave and if one of those things or a combination of those things doesn't happen then the soldiers will leave. sometimes they'll come back but that's no way to run an organization. so the fix is not fist kated. it's having good leaders. having good leaders tha

it provides clarity for afghans, the taliban in the region, that there will be a significant u.s. military role in the future with no deadline. i wish such clarity hi been provided several years ago. it is critical of the confidence of afghans that they were succeed and demonstrating to the taliban they cannot. clarity that the afghan project will not fail, that afghanistan will not collapse under taliban pressure and terror, will be crucial to the prospects for afghan confidence, continued success and ultimately for peace. preserving that clarity is, in fact, the priority strategic goal. it must be clear there is no space in afghanistan for al qaeda and daesh to flourish nor a place for the taliban absent a political settlement. with today's increased levels of violence and elevation of new threats the administration should revisit whether the u.s. strategy formulated several years ago it adequate to today's task. the afghan security forces are doing the fighting's they will continue to improve. any further reduction in international forces must be commensurate with ansf capabili

they work hard to rollback any taliban gains. to your specific question, sir, you mention question, sir, you mentioned some of them, intelligence is certainly a key capability. the provision of air support, fixed wing aviation, to take some years to build, the growth growth of mid-level leaders of the small unit level, where tactics matter and where we combine tactics is important, the use of indirect fire and fire support is important, perhaps one of the most critical is casualty treatment and evacuation. although we have seen improvements, steady growth steady growth in all of these areas, as he mentioned, in some areas we have years to go, particularly the aviation area. >> as we all know one of the biggest problems has been the sanctuary, particularly the involvement of the isi in pakistan which in many cases has been supporting the network, yet the chief of staff of the pakistani army, to those of us who have met him, are very impressed with him. have you seen any progress in this whole problem with sanctuary for the taliban

the pakistani taliban is an off-shoot of the taliban movement in neighboring afghanistan.he afghan taliban remains divided over whether to join peace talks to end afghanistan's more than 14-year war. for more we are joined by two .ariq ali we are going to london to speak with him, a political commentator, filmmaker, and editor of new left review. , theost recent book extreme centre: a warning. he is also the author of several books on pakistani politics and history. can you explain where this is and the significance of this? tariq: every atrocity comes as a shock and a surprise. i have to point out that this has been going on now for several years. began,e afghanistan war i pointed out that one of the side effects of this war was going to be the destabilization of pakistan, especially in the northern province which borders afghanistan and where people speak the same language as many -- there are very close links between therovince d kistan. whou wagear on on coury and e way yowage tha war, is very dficult tstop th war frospilling over. e effectof ts spilla now in pakistaha

when we see the taliban attack a town they take it.heysf fights back and recapture some of the territory. the challenge for us, our allies, and friends is are we prepared to continue to support the nsf? they need more training and equipment. laura: did they need more from the u.s. special forces? madethink president obama an important and courageous decision leaving the u.s. forces for a longer time than he originally envisioned. number and with nato, it is the right number. are they doing the right thing? there is a tragic outcome today, but there is training and equipment for the nsf. can you maintain the level of activity with that that you have? laura: are you suggesting they should be deployed to do something different? no. the combination of supporting the nsf, and focusing on training, equipping, and enabling is important. laura: at the end of last summer there were a piece talks with the taliban that collapsed. there is talk of talks reviving in islamabad. what do you think? attackinge taliban afghans, americans, and allies mak

the taliban, his death kept secret, even from other taliban members. so for the last several months, the taliban has been in a very difficult position. it is trying to fight off isis. it's trying to prevent its own members from splintering away after the death of mullah omar, but i do think we have started to see from the taliban in the last couple of months an attempt for it to reconsolidate itself, to find some unity, and to fight off where it can isis. it is trying to make a comeback. >> richard reng wiengel, thanks much. colonel jack jacobs joins me here in msnbc world headquarters in new york. colonel, great to see you. we also have confirmed from u.s. defense officials telling the "washington post" that afghan troops were also wounded in this operation. what does this mean as richard is making the distinction between isis or the taliban, it could be anybody's guess. this is a corrupted area. >> if you are on the good guys' side it almost doesn't matter except insofar as you can gain intelligence from about one or the other, either isis or the tal

we we see a continued connection between al qaeda and the taliban. we see the efforts of the pakistani force, some of these terrorists are forced to the other side of the border. former members of the tpp, we have members of other terrorist organizations that have joined together to form is kp, so we, so we see their attempt to get in there. back to our first principle of preventing an attack on the homeland, we still see attempts by terrorist organizations to get into afghanistan. we see we see linkages between them and the telegram. again this is the first principle requires our continued focus and effort. the question in my mind is, what level of investment is necessary to accomplish the ct mission? to avoid is having our own combat troops there, in an endless sense, you need need to develop their indigenous capabilities. the 382,000 soldier policemen, security force is, we think that number still right, that is still the right number. as we mentioned before, we don't see this original projections are for a drawdown have to be looked at in terms o

the taliban are also splintering.leader, his successor does not command the same authority. >> he is not being accepted. they are saying that he cannot be our leader. there are different conflicts within the taliban, as well. report: the afghanistan president has said the success of any talks will depend on the taliban themselves. he has issued this morning to the group. >> the fundamental issue here is the choice. choose peace or terrorism. there is no second choice. there will be no tolerance for terrorism. report: the afghan secity forces are still in no position to take down the taliban alone. if the 15 years of bloodshed are to come to an end, a peace deal is the only option. sarah: we want to return to our top story, the passing of david belli, and from our business desk, we have more on why he was not just a musician. anchor: he also had a shrewd sense of business opportunities. often lavish productions that he made, he often needed cash, and when he found himself short of it, like many artists do once in a whi

and including iranian providing weapons to the taliban.n other words, the view of many of us is that the security situation in afghanistan has been deteriorating rather than improving. what is your assessment, general, of the overall tactical situation in afghanistan? >> sir, i agree with your assessment. >> so, if that is the case, shouldn't it be wise at least to pause in our plans for further reductions and try to achieve some stability on the ground? >> sir, i agree in your opening. statements both you and senator reid discussed conditions based on assessments on the capacity that we maintain in the country. and that this capacity, this capability we maintain should be able to adequately address our two core missions of counterterrorism and train and advice assist to the afghans. >> and isn't it true that there are, along this line, that the afghan military still does not have some capabilities that we acqui -- require years and years of e equ equipping, such as intel and medevac, but particularly intelligence capabilities that despite

infighting that we mentioned, divisions within the taliban, the afghan taliban has been causing very big problems for the afghan forces, we've seen daring attacks in recent weeks, including in kabul, what does this mean as far as the strength? how much more difficult will it be now for the afghan government forces now that you have these two groups coming together? >> well, you know, i think it will continue to be very difficult because first of all we have seen the taliban fighting through the winter months. normally they take a break when it is too cold. this year they fought in many different areas, including, as you said, kabul. they have attacked kandahar and some of the major cities, and they've tried to take territory. this fighting will continue. even if talks are going to be held in the next month or so, or maybe a bit longer, the taliban want to be in a very strong position. and much of the speculation would be, in fact, they want to take an entire province or they want to even take a major city so that they can talk to kabul from a degree of strength. >> very interesting t

they make a distinction between the pakistani taliban and the afghan taliban. always concern about the relationship with india that that could flair up, there have been some of the pakistani militant groups launching attacks in india, like back in 2008. if you see another one of those kind of attacks, you could see renewed tension on the continent. >> you have two schools attacked in such a small time period, the place is seen as relatively stable given the rest of the environment in that part of the world. paul cruickshank, thank you as always. appreciate it. >>> to our other top story. a big boost for donald trump. former vice presidential candidate sarah palin throwing her support behind trump just 12 days before the iowa caucuses. will it help get trump -- let trump win over skeptical evangelicals and tea partiers? cnn political reporter sara murray live in norwalk. >> it is an open question whether a sarah palin endorsement could help change people's minds. it could help motivate republican voters to turn out for donald trump and when the race is this clos

and china will pave the way for talks to he resumed with the taliban. we have more from kabul. >> the meeting in islamabad was described as significant. from afghanistan-pakistan to the united states and china, but none from the taliban. they'll be invited later if a framework deal is eventually agreed. the aim of monday's talks was to agree on a road map to achieve peace with the taliban. pakistani leaders say the main objective is to get the most powerful group in the country to negotiate by giving incentives to abandon violence. >> it is therefore important that pre-conceived conditions are not attached. this would be counterproductive. secondly, actions in the process should be significant in paving the way for direct talks with the taliban group. >> in kabul the meeting is different and important. >> the news for peace is going to be opened to all those groups that are willing to come to the negotiation table. but would not come to the negotiation table both countries have already agreed to work out some very practical and significant steps in figh

army alleged deserter and taliban prisoner -- sergeaeant bowe bergdahl.hdahl is currently undergng trial on chararges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. still to come on "full measure" -- uncovering what the government doesn't want you to know -- some claim it's more difficult now than ever. we take a look at how cocongress may help change that sharyl: this week, the house passed a new bill to help lift the veil of government secrecy. that, as a new report from the house oversight committee finds the freedom of information act -- or foia -- is broken. the law, signed by president lyndon johnson 50 years ago, was supposed to make it easier for americans to accccess public records. but critics say government agencies have opted an "unlawful presumption in favor of secrecy" that dodoes not measure up. rep. chaffz: we have to remember who we work for. we work for ththe american peope and e american people are paying the tab, it's their government and they have the right to know. sharyl: rerepublican jason chaffe hea the house oversight committee,

and china, will pave the way for talks to resume with the talib taliban. al jazeera has more from kabul. >> the meeting in islamabad was described as significant. delegates from afghanistan, pakistan, united states, china, but none from the taliban they've been invited later if the framework deal is eventually agreed. the aim of monday's talks was to agree on a road map to achieve peace with the taliban. pakistani leaders say that the main objective is to get the most powerful group in the country to negotiate to give incentives to abandon violence. >> it is important that pre-conditions not be attached to the process. secondly proper sequencing of the action in the process should be significant in paving the way for the taliban group. >> in kabul the afghan government said that the meeting is different and important. >> it is going to be opened to all those groups that are willing to come to the negotiation table. but for those who do not come to the negotiation table both countries have already agreed to work out very practical and significant steps in f

now, talks aimed at ending taliban violence in afghanista have got underway this monday, but no talibanicials were invited. delegates from afghanistan, pakistan, china, and the united states gathered earlier in islamabad. talibanut when the might be invited to the table. reporter: hoping to lay the pakistan, peace, afghanistan, china, and the u.s. are meeting in a bid to restart dialogue. the islamist group was not invited to the negotiating table. participants say they first need to figure out which warring factions are ready to negotiate. >> the reconciliation process is to create ambition, to bring the taliban group to the renegotiating table, and offer them incentives that can persuade them to move away from using violence as a tool for pursuing this -- pursuing political goals. reporter: the move comes as the taliban has intensified its insurgency in recent months, taking back large swathes of the country. the first round of the four-way talks were held in july, but fell apart after the taliban belatedly confirmed the death of their founder, who died in 2013. the news was kept secr

sharyl: in 2014, the white house made a secret deal to trade so-called high value taliban prisoners for alleged u.s. military deserter sgt. bowe bergdahl. the obama administration failed to provide congress the required notice, saying it had to act quickly. guantanamo bay is its enormous cost. the prison facilities built to hold hundreds is nearly empty. with the current population around 90 and an annual budget of nearly $400 million tax dollars, it works out to $4.4 million dollars per detainee per year. that's about 62 times the $70,000 cost for a prisoner at a maximum-security federal prison in the u.s. carol: we called it the most expensive prison on earth. it's a very redundant operation and it's very complicated, built on the fly, over time, and at this point there's very few people. sharyl: the administration moved more detainees in recent days and additional transfers are soon expected. carol: what's going on this month will take it down to 90. what they're trying to get to is what they call the irreducible minimum, whom they will not let go. sharyl: the remaining question to c

. >>> in afghanistan, taliban insurgents have recently been increasing their activity. that is severely affecting the country's security situation. last year they temporarily captured the northern city of kunduz. life is still a struggle for the people there, and they're growing increasingly disappointed with the government. nhk world's fumio sugaya reports. >> reporter: fierce street fighting left much of kunduz in ruins. government forces managed to retake the city, but the violence has dramatically altered the daily life of local people. 15-year-old sideqa darwish lives with her mother and six brothers and sisters. her goal is to study hard to become a doctor. she wants to help people who cannot afford proper medical treatment, but that dream has been derailed by the taliban. her father was a high school principal. one day he was shot and killed by taliban fighters on his way home. >> translator: when we heard he had been killed, we were shocked, of course. we started crying and weeping. we lost our way. my father was our family's main breadwinner. >> reporter: her s

this mental taliban leaders --ecting are lower as a disgruntled taliban leaders defecting are lower as a result of isis. the politics involved with the government, local government officials and all the powerbrokers and the taliban, perhaps we can get into it in the q and a. sectiono focus my last on speaking on the politics, which i will say is the core of afghanistan's troubles. the taliban will continue pushing, but the country will not heal itself if it cannot get fractured political infighting focused on personal power grabs and focus on governance. ofeed, the year was one plotting, efforts to undermine this functional and nonfunctional so-called government of national unity. not typically between the two withng men, but crucially powerbrokers on the sidelines. of whatately, instead there is being used to focus on inernance, to make some push improving the efficiency in the military, make some push and cleaning up the bad criminality , the government is instead staying with political infighting and infighting with other powerbrokers. announced in 2016 the parliamentary and distric

the taliban's strategy is to take advantage. their propaganda video shows some of its fighters celebrating recent victories and it has war tactic to gain a strong negotiating position. >> what they have achieved on the battlefield it would bring position. >> but there are other factors that could be forcing the taliban to renegotiate. it suffered heavy losses over the years, and it's now divided. the announcement in july that mohammed has died two years earlier has rattled the group. some members split and some refuse to accept the new leader mohammed monsour. now there is momentum for peace. from the u.s. china and afghanistan, they met in islamabad to agree on a road map for taliban. >> and all parties to the talks have their own agenda and tactics. >> the taliban's leader is struggling to maintain the group' group, and it is not known if he is in favor of peace talks, but the islamic state in iraq and the levant which is gaining ground in afghanistan. >> the charges related to the killing of a separatist leader fighting for a

they were the leadership of the taliban who commanded their intelligence apparatus and their sharyl: in the very early days of the war on terror, members of the cia and special operations teams were on the ground in afghanistan seeking high value members of the taliban and al qaeda. in 2001, gary berntsen commanded the cia's so-called jawbreaker team. many of those captured by his team went to guantanamo. gary: when you look at guantanamo, i think the public needs to understand that the individuals, the vast majority 99% of the people that are there were captured on a battlefield where they were conducting activities that were not consistent with legal warfare, human rights, they'rgenocidal killers, they were criminals and terrorists in many, many ways. they were ken to guantanamo to be held so that they would not be attacking us again. sharyl: which, for people who don't understand, which allows us to do what? gary: well, it allows us to hold them as prisoners in a u.s. compound outside the territotorial jurisdiction of the united states. and by doing so, it allows us to legally kee

this isn't the first time the taliban has targeted students in the area... in 20-14 an attack on a school in peshawar left more than 150 dead - mostly children. pakisti cials now vowing to take the fight to the terrorists... while urging their citizens not to let the fear of another attack disrupt their lives. rasheed says: (translated) "we should not give the impression to anyone that pakistan is hostage to terrorists, or that their attack can help them to stop daily life of pakistan. if we should behave like this, this act will give courage to them." the white house condemning the attack and offering support... but experts say the fight won't be easy... the taliban infiltrating pakistan's security services - and finding sympathy among lawmakers there... representing a long-term threat to regional stability and the west. mcfarland says: "what happens if the taliban, islamic extremists take over that government? what if they get their hands on the weapons in pakistan? what happens then? then you have the nightmare (on-cam tag) a taliban leader claimed respon

allegiance to the new head of the taliban we see continued connection between al-qaeda and the taliban. we have seen the efforts of the pakistanis force some of these terrorists to the other side of the border. former members of the ttp. we have members of other terrorist organizations that have joined together to form iskp. so we see that attempt to get in there. .com our first principle of preventing an attack on the homeland, we still see attempts by terrorist organizations to get into afghanistan, and we see linkages between him and the taliban. this again as a first principle requires our continued focus and effort. so then the question in my mind then is what level of investment is necessary to accomplish the ct mission. to avoid is having our own combat troops there, in an endless of sense, you need to develop their indigenous capability. so the 352,000 soldier, policeman, security force is, we think, that number is to write. that's the right number as i mentioned before we don't see this original projections for a drawdown have to be looked at in terms of when that would occur.

the taliban has been steadily pounded. the situation is hardly good despite the fact that there are , at least 18,000 afghan soldiers and policemen stationed. in 2016 we can expect the kandahar will come under significant pressure. already in the taliban was 2015 making a lot of maneuvers around the province preparing for a push on kandahar. let us not ever think it is easy for the taliban either. the movement is facing great internal challenges like it has over the past decade and arguably longer. the transition has not been smooth. sexualizationd in sectionalization of the groups. it has come with many costs. one has just come out against him. the transition is challenging. in fact, the rise of isis in afghanistan and places like couple -- kabul and iraq has caused damage. the disgruntled taliban leaders defecting are lower as a result of isis. the politics involved with the government, local government officials and all the powerbrokers and the taliban, perhaps we can get into it in the q and a. i want to focus my last