as is an outright taliban win. just to briefly talk about talabani afghan government, the taliban is an insurgent group and -- who aims to eventually govern afghanistan. they will use a variety of means as an insurgency to gain control of territory, of people, and contest others. so they will certainly use military attacks, they will use shadow governance, they will use terrorist tactics, assassination, intimidation, propaganda, the whole range of what insurgencies generally use. they have sanctuary in pakistan not likely to go away anytime soon. they have made -- started to make inroads among non-pashtun groups which is significant for them. their ties with al qaeda were very, very difficult after september 11th and for many, many years beyond that. they have been improving recently. they fight, however, with islamic state khorasan, which is the islamic state affiliate that is in afghanistan. they're an internally fractious movement. so they're not this sort of monolith. they have many different factions. although

to what extent are they connected to the taliban, former taliban, new jihadists entering afghanistan? do you think the islamic state is gaining ground in afghanistan? is adon't think that it consequence of what is happening in syria, yes. that might be the case in the future as they lose more territory in iraq. afghanistan, has for the last year and a half, then a target for i.s. cells from the region. many i.s. belong to what used to , and others belong to foreign fighters from central asia. thea: why do you think afghan government needs to fight the extremist threat, whether it is the taliban or i.s.? would more u.s. troops and nato boots on the ground help? >> better command, better control, better management. going after real targets. there is a suspicion and afghan society there is a 5th column in the government that may be aiding and abetting. i hope that is not true. laura: it might be? .> it is a very strong belief they cannot make sense of why this is happening. the united states is at a point, and nato and other countries who have contributed to the afghanistan security for

the taliban targets american troops. the taliban is trying to kill our people. the accusation is the russians are supporting the taliban. the kremlin is pushing back. a spokesperson for the defense minister telling russian state media that moscow has had no cooperation with organizations recognized by terrorist nations. were the russians helping the taliban as the taliban try to kill american troops? garrett tenney with the news. why would russia help the taliban? >> russia is coming full circle here. what we know as the taliban today started with the same fighters that dried up the soviet invasion of afghanistan in the 80s with training and weapons from the c.i.a. now almost 30 years later, the tables have turned and u.s. military leaders believe russia is likely providing the taliban with supplies and weapons in the fight against u.s.-backed fighters. today general votel says he believes isis and the kremlin's desire of stopping their spread to central asia. likely the taliban has a better shot at tackling isis than the country's current government, which is b

they were provoked and violently targeted incessantly by the taliban.ey found an injured taliban insurgent, sergeant blackman was recorded saying this. anybody want to do first aid on this idiot? no. he then pointed his gun at the insurgent. shot fire. he then added. shuffle off this mortal coil. in 2013, sergeant blackman was found guilty of murder, a decision that angered thousands of military colleagues. but earlier this month that conviction was reduced to manslaughter because new evidence showed the mental strains on him had badly impaired his judgement. and so, today, his sentence was reduced to seven years, meaning he can be freed from this prison in wiltshire some time in the next few weeks. and while his supporters are delighted, the judges did stress that alexander blackman did break the geneva convention and that his actions could be used as propaganda by insurgents to show that british values are no different to anybody else's. claire blackman is nowjust a few days away from being reunited with her husband, but although she and their support

they were provoked and violently targeted incessantly by the taliban. saying this. anybody want to do first aid on this idiot? no. he then pointed his gun at the insurgent. gunshot he then added... shuffle off this mortal coil, you... in 2013, sergeant blackman was found guilty of murder, a decision that thousands of military colleagues believed was a moral outrage. earlier this month, that conviction was reduced to manslaughter, on grounds of diminished responsibility. although alexander blackman's supporters are relieved today, thejudges did make it clear that he had deliberately killed that taliban insurgent. although they said his judgment was impaired at the time, they said he did break the geneva convention. rob driscoll served alongside al blackman and says the decision to release him now is the right one, given what they all went through. the answer to your question is, was it right, for me, what he did? and my answer would be absolutely. when you're surrounded by absolute lunacy, then a little bit of lunacy kind of doesn't seem so bad. this was

in this field, they found an injured taliban insurgents.this... he then pointed his gun at the insurgent. he then added... in 2013, sergeant blackman was found guilty of murder, a decision that thousands of military colleagues believed was a moral outrage. earlier this month, that conviction was reduced to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. rob driscoll served alongside alexander blackman and says the decision to release him now is the right one, given what they all went through. the answer to your question is, was it right what he did? and the answer would be, absolutely. when you are surrounded by absolute lunacy, then a little bit of lunacy doesn't seem so bad. prosecutors argued that alexander blackman broke the rules of war but his supporters saw a man tormented by the horrors of combat. for his wife and for him, he is the last casualty of the afghanistan conflict. alexander blackman is currently at a prison in wiltshire and is expected to be released sometime over the next two weeks to be reunited with his wife clai

they were provoked and violently targeted incessantly by the taliban.they found an injured taliban insurgent, sergeant blackman was recorded saying this. anybody want to do first aid on this idiot? no. he then pointed his gun at the insurgent. shot fire. he then added. shuffle off this mortal coil. in 2013, sergeant blackman was found guilty of murder, a decision that angered thousands of military colleagues. but earlier this month that conviction was reduced to manslaughter because new evidence showed the mental strains on him had badly impaired his judgement. claire blackman is nowjust a few days away from being reunited with her husband, but although she and their supporters see this as a day ofjustice, the message from the judges is clear — killing in war must always be covered by the rule of law. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in wiltshire. and there will be more on that story with breakfast later on. the top stories. britain's set to begin its historic break with brussels. a letter, signed by prime minister theresa may, will be delivered to european co

in this field they found an injured taliban insurgent. he said this: an injured taliban insurgent.ed his gun at the insurgent. he then added: in 2013, sergeant blackman was found guilty of murder, a decision that thousands of military colleagues believed was a moral outrage. earlier this month, that conviction was reduced to manslaughter, on grounds of diminished responsibility. rob driscoll served alongside alexander blackman. he says the decision to release him now is the right one, given what they all went through. the answer to your question is, was it right, for me, what he did? and my answer would be absolutely. when you're surrounded by absolute lunacy, then a little bit of lunacy, kind of, doesn't seem so bad. prosecutors argued that alexander blackman broke the rules of war. but his supporters saw a man tormented by the horrors of combat. for his wife and for him, he is the last casualty of the afghanistan conflict. let's speak to the author frederick forsyth, who campaigned for the release of sergeant alexander blackman. hejoins me from his home in buckinghamshire. thank

i think the news that they have been collaborating with taliban or supporting taliban has been quite unfortunate and unfortunately they are doing it. i think part of it is any country recognizing or differentiating between good terrorists and bad terrorists is making a major folly and a major mistake. there are not good and bad terrorists. there are only terrorists. and trying to -- and for russia trying do this under the folly that, well, this is the way that they can stop daesh, you know, when you look at the taliban groups among all these 20 terrorist organizations all of these groups compete but as well as collaborate in different individual areas. so i think this is a very bad thing. and it's basically when you have countries that are becoming part of sponsoring terrorism it's not only good for the region, eventually it's not going to be good for russia as a whole and our hope is that russia would really begin to see the light in such activities. >> the gentleman in the fourth row there. >> thank you. my name is mohamed al sharwi. i'm with american university. dr. homayun qayoum

they were provoked and targeted incessantly by the taliban.jured taliban insurgent. sergeant buckman was recorded saying this. he then pointed his gun at the insurgent. he then added: in 2013, sergeant blackman was found guilty of murder, a decision that thousands of military colleagues believed was a moral outrage. earlier this month, that conviction was reduced to manslaughter, on grounds of diminished responsibility. although alexander blackman's supporters are relieved today, the judges made it clear that he had deliberately killed that taliban insurgents. although he said his judgment was impaired at the time, they said he did break the geneva convention. rob driscoll served alongside alexander blackman. he says the decision to release him now is the right one, given what they all went through. the answer to your question is, was it right, for me, what he did? and my answer would be absolutely. when you're surrounded by absolute lunacy, then a little bit of lunacy, kind of, doesn't seem so bad. this was a unique case, where the pressure o

and distancing themselves from the taliban.'t strangely want to be seen as attacking hospital infrastructure. and according to one u.s. watchdog, it's in fact fully under government control and it has a very difficult summer ahead here. politically cite cease and security ones no more heavy amplified by the saek on this hospital. back to you. >> nick paton walsh in beirut. a terrible story. >>> 48 minutes past the hour. there's a little girl on wall street this morning. she showed up overnight and has captivated downtown and really the business community. this little girl is standing defiantly in front of one of the world's most iconic symbols of capitalism. staring down capitalism eye to eye. i'll tell you why she's there and what company is brilliantly behind it. blue-emu continuous pain relief spray, it works fast and you won't stink. the more mysterious they sound, the more... powerful you'll think they are. it's time to see what power really looks like. new neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair with accelerated retinol sa. clin

the headlines: cheering cheers outside court, as a royal marine who killed an injured taliban fighter in afghanistan is given a seven year prison sentence, but told he will be freed in two weeks. alexander blackman was jailed for murder in 2013, but his conviction was reduced to manslaughter earlier this month. his wife is overjoyed. this is the moment we have all been fighting hard for. it's hard to believe that this day is finally here. a shake up of prescriptions, holiday jabs, gluten free food and fish oils may no longer be available on the nhs to save money. a rape victim says she agrees with thejudge in her case who was criticised for warning that drunk women put themselves in danger. i think she was absolutely right in what she said, but it was taken out of context. she put the blame massively on rapists, not the victims. she just simply said to be careful, basically, which is smart advice. the wife of the westminster attacker, khalid masood, condemns his actions, saying she is saddened and shocked. also this hour — cyclone debbie batters the australian state of queensland. hig

taliban insurgent.l went through your a nswer to what they all went through your answer to your question s was it right for me what he did? my answer would be — absolutely. you know when you are surrounded by absolute lunacy, then a little bit of lunacy, kind of doesn‘t seem so bad. prosecutors argued that alexander blackman broke the rules of war that separate civilised armies from others, but his supporters saw a man tormented by the horrors of combat. now he is to be reunited with his wife. for her, for him, he is the last casualty of the afghanistan conflict. now, this campaign has been led by claire blackman, alexander blackman ‘s wife but also many other people in many different walks of life, one of them is richard dchl rax mp who is with me now. your response to the sentence today? i'm absolutely delighted that after three years justice has finally been served and that —— richard drax, and that a good, decent, courageous man can go back to his wife, where he belongs. why have you been involved i

north waziristan became home to al-qaeda, the taliban, and jihadists from all over the world, but asn bennett—jones reports, after a long and bloody military campaign, the pakistani army is now firmly in control. for years now, these remote areas on the afghan—pakistan border have been a haven for violentjihadists. in 2014, the pakistan army launched a campaign to win back this land, and today virtually all of it is under army control. the militants left behind this roadside bomb factory. capturing facilities like this has made a difference. there used to be thousands of bomb attacks in pakistan each year, that is now down to hundreds. the army reckons its operations here are the most successful anti—jihadist campaign the world has yet seen. this is sub conventional warfare. it is not conventional warfare. so somewhere it was the ied that was a threat to you, somewhere it was small ambush or different, so different incidents happening in different areas when we were trying to get them. just like aleppo and mosul, the army caused massive destruction fighting the jihadis. when the batt

they were provoked and violently targeted incessantly by the taliban.injured taliban insurgent, sergeant blackman was recorded saying this: anybody want to do first aid on this idiot? he then pointed his gun at the insurgent. shot fire. he then added. in 2013, sergeant blackman was found guilty of murder, a decision that angered thousands of military colleagues. but earlier this month, that conviction was reduced to manslaughter because new evidence showed the mental strains on him had badly impaired his judgment. so today his sentence was reduced to seven years, meaning he can be freed from this prison in wiltshire some time in the next two weeks. and while his supporters are delighted, the judges did stress that alexander blackman did break the geneva convention and that his actions could be used as propaganda by insurgents to show that british values are no different to anybody else's. claire blackman is nowjust a few days away from being reunited with her husband, but although she and their supporters see this as a day of justice, the message from t

a royal marine who killed and injured taliban fighter in afghanistan will walk free after his convictioneen quashed. that's all from the bbc news at one so it's goodbye from me good afternoon. you're watching bbc news. i'm olly foster at the bbc sport centre. andy murray won't be fit to play in great britain's davis cup quarterfinal against france that starts a week on friday. he has a tear in his elbow and needs rest and no decision has been made about when he'll be able to return to action. the davis cup captain leon smith says the world number one's absence will be a "big loss" to the team. kyle edmund, dan evans, jamie murray and dom inglot will head to rouen without him next week. the winners will play serbia or spain in the semis. johanna konta is into the quarter finals of the miami open for a second successive year.the british number one beat spain's lara arruabarrena in straight sets overnight to set up a last eight meeting with simona halep. the england and wales cricket board are pushing ahead with their plans for a city based t20 tournement to be launched in the summer of 202

anytime we took contact and pursued the enemy, it wasn't the taliban. it was a bunch of farmers or guys -- we have been in their country 14 years. it's better to label it was the taliban rather than afghani families that didn't want us there. it was the biggest waste of time. we would be constantly talking to different leaders of different tribes and the fact there is no real centralized government means there's no real hearts and minds we can turn on a nation level. there's always going to be fighting there because of this, the huge cultural differences in the country not so much outside the country. again, it's a huge astronomical waste of time and money. that's all. mr. jones: brian, thank you for your service to our nation and you articulated much better than i ever could because you've been there and know it. the former commandant of the marine corps, chuck crulach, has been my unofficial advisor on afghanistan for about six years now. and he agrees with john and i, that we need -- he agrees with you, brian, as well. he doesn't think it's worth one

i think the news that they have been collaborated with taliban or supporting taliban has been unfortunate and they have been doing it. any country recognizing or differentiating between good and bad terrorists is making a major mistake. and trying -- for russian trying do this under the folly this is the way they can stop, when you look at the taliban groups with all of these 20 terrorists organizations all of these groups compete but as well as collaborate in different areas. this is bad thing. when you have countrying becoming part of sponsoring terrorisms it's not good for the region and our hope is that russian would begin to see the light in such activities. >> the gentleman in the fourth row. >> thank you. my name is mohamed. you talked about ambitious project in afghanistan. do you agree that it is still fragile in the light of of the terrorists the recent terrorists attacks in kabul that continuous insergecy do you think it's s l intelligentble to have talks with -- substantially cut for afghanistan. so what is your perspective? >> the government of afghanistan has been interested

a break away faction of the pakistani taliban is claiming responsibility for a car bombing that killedt 24 people near a shiite house of worship. the blast occurred in a tribal region where dering afghanistan. the explosion was so powerful, it damaged cars and nearby shops. secretary of state rex tillerson is telling nato allies it's time to pay up. tillerson has given nato partners a deadline to come up with plans to chip in more for their own defense. correspondent rich edson reports tonight from brussels. >> reporter: secretary of state rex tillerson went to his first nato meeting and gave u.s. allies an assignment. those failing to meet the nato defense spending threshold should offer a plan on how they will eventually honor that commitment. >> ensuring that nato has all of the resources, financial and otherwise that are necessary for nato to fulfill its mission. >> reporter: secretary tillerson gave them two months may 25th. that's the next nato meeting. they agreed to move toward the target of spending 2% of the size of their country's economies on defense. the u.s., united kingd

and a royal marine who's in prison for the fatal shooting of a taliban fighter in afghanistan finds outhe is to be freed or must serve more time behind bars. i'm hoping and praying that, along with the former archbishop of canterbury, forformer with the former archbishop of canterbury, for former release. why? because he deserves it and this was an absurd sentence from the beginning and i'm hoping the court will be persuaded that we are right on that. we'll bring you the result as soon as it happens. it's due around 1030 this morning. hello. welcome to the programme, we're live until 11. throughout the morning — the latest breaking news and developing stories. a little later in the programme we'll look at the latest on scottish independence. and we'll discuss this front page, "never mind brexit who won legs it". tell us what you think. do get in touch on all the stories we're talking about this morning — use the hashtag victoria live and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. the wife of westminster attacker, khalid masood, has said she "totally condemns" his act

it was a brazen attack given what we've seen even by the taliban and the interesting thing is isis islaiming responsibility and not the taliban. >> shannon: what does this tell us now about isis' capabilities and why they've been so much more active in afghanistan? >> reporter: we've seen their growth and they've been popping up and battled afghan security forces and taliban in afghanistan. it's the type of attack we've not seen from them in the past. it's a more complex -- well-planned traditional attack we've by the haqani network and for security analysts and those working in kabul this is alarming to see isis carry out this type of attack. it's just not the type of capabilities we've seen them carry out or have in the past. if you're now throwing this into the equation in terms of the stability in afghanistan have you the taliban who have long carried out these attacks and now isis. it's a recipe for greater disaster than we've seen in the last few years. >> shannon: connor powell live for us. >> bill: alarming there. >> shannon: it is. and they're losing territory in some places.

long after the taliban denied involvement, the islamic state group claimed responsibility. >> in all religions, a hospital regarded -- is regarded as a sacred site. is the same as attacking the whole of afghanistan. >> escalating violence has put afghan security forces on high alert. last week, the taliban killed dozens of people in a series of .ttacks >> turkey's foreign minister has canceled a political rally reportedly because the owner of the site has withdrawn permission for it to be used. the large turkish populations in the netherlands and germany are being targeted by ankara ahead of the referendum on expanding the president's powers. several cities have planned supportive marches. >> islamophobia is at the heart of a breakdown in relations between turkey and germany. that is the accusation of the turkish foreign minister after meeting his german counterpart on wednesday morning. the meeting had been billed as an attempt to calm relations between berlin and and kara, which hit a new low this week after the turkish president accused germany of nazi -- relations between berlin

that attack was followed by a gun battle between the taliban and police. second suicide boomer blew himself up near a government intelligence building in the eastern part of the city. >>> police are investigating two threatening notes left at a mosque and a muslim community center in silver spring. one of those notes was found in the mail. the second one at the muslim community center. both notes threaten deadly harm to muslims. members of the community are alarmed. they are all calling for greater dialogue. >> come on in, talk to us, you know. you have questions about islam, you have questions about people of different countries. we're here to help. >> the islamic education society says it's received many positive messages from the community and never had a problem like this until now. >>> still ahead tonight, a chorus of police they need help getting here. >>> one of the wildest and stmo violent endings to a high speed police chaser evecaught on camera. stronger is rebuilding a newborn's heart... and restoring a father's faith.