they lay all of the explosives and the mop-up operation for the peshmerga. that is what is taking time. in the meantime, christine, they are planning operations. the city of mosul and iraq's second largest city, that is the prize. it will be the prize to take back control of that. as we know, that is going to be an extremely difficult battle. we're talking about urban warfare. peshmerga is not used to that. they are used to fighting in the mountains. they have to adapt to fighting in the open environments. that is where the international experience is critical. that is where the advisers and people from other countries from the global coalition is critical. because at the end of the day as we heard from president obama, there will not been any u.s. combat forces here in that particular fight. they will rely on the peshmerga and the iraqi security forces to take those fights to isis. christine. >> we know the french will be joining in air strikes as well. a new phase. anna coren, thank you. >>> a new chilling media message from isis. the slickly produced vide

they fought along the iraqi army and peshmerga to break the siege. today the atmosphere is very different. a pickup truck blocks our exit and a militiamen aimed ak-47s straight at us. >> we've been trying to get through the checkpoint for the last half hour. it's clear that it's the shia militia that make the decisions here and they're very reluctant to let us through. we're trying to film a village they've apparently flattened and torched, a village that used to have sunni arabs in it. eventually they let us through. it was sheffield united by the shia. houses have been torched. one is still smolder. the peshmerga have a position close by that they are now pulling out leaving the militia in total control. they say they respect the house that they set camp in. >> we're giving our life to protect all people's property, but others are not doing this. in particular, this is not acceptable. >> the peshmerga have gone house to house, dismantling explosive devices left by i.s. fighters. they found this one buried under the road. they even found one under a

in areas they control, islamic state fighters carry out pitched battles against kurdish peshmerga and iraqi troops. increasingly, in areas they don't, they detonate car bombs, with deadly effect. >> this photo shows a would be suicide bomber disguised as a woman, captured by turkish-peshmerga troops. >> translation: the car came, parked here and the driver climbed into another car, a black toyota. they left. suddenly it exploded. i was injured by the glass. >> reporter: in kirkuk a black opal detonates leaving a landscape of rubble and several injured, including this 1-year-old upstairs. >> translation: a bomb. >> reporter: the glass. >> translation: yes. >> reporter: the shop might have been targeted because it sold liquor, and also because it was owned by kurdish yazidi serving a crowd of customers. >> on a recent day in kirkuk, three simultaneous bombs killed 33 people and wounded 127, including peshmerga troops inside the building. devastating the neighbourhood. >> translation: our family came from those provinces. islamic state came to our village, they attacked and took everythi

fighters in zoomar, the peshmerga doesn't know how to deal with their tactics. i.s.i.l. wants to regain the oil rich area. industry hours before we arrived -- three hours before we arrived six vehicles came up the road to attack the peshmerga position. the commander says now that 20,000 residents have spread, there's no reason why air strikes cannot help them take the town. >> i can confirm that there is not a single civilian in the town. anyone there is an i.s.i.l. supporters. i ask the u.s. to rethink its strategy, making zummar a target. >> the front line is a couple of kilometres down the frood her and bes angie, which is flattened by u.s. fighter jets in the air attacks. retreating i.s.i.l. fighters, who led explosive devices in the building and blown them up. many americans were killed in the town after the u.s.-led invasion of 2003. it was previously an al qaeda strong hold. peshmerga fighters are relieved to see it in ruins, and are looking to the current u.s. bomb ag campaign to raise zummar to the ground too. >>> an i.s.i.l.-linked group is blamed for the killi

but now iraq's army and the kurdish peshmerga say they are in charge and have taken back 16 villages in the province. here the army says it has stopped several improvised attacks like these. still villages remain nervous. >> translator: there are regular roadside bombs across the town, not to mention a sticky bomb under a car that exploded recently. >> reporter: peshmerga forces say they have taken control of the outskirts after the iraqi army retreated when isil took the town in late june. they are confident they are take it back soon. >> translator: we're now at the last front line. we normally engage in fighting with isil fighters at night and the early hours of the morning. our morale is high, and we will fight isil to the last drop of blood. >> reporter: this is said to be one of the last strong holds of isil fighters in this province, but taking it won't be easy. many are worried about civilian casualties. isil fighters are said to be hiding inside houses and the city itself. so avoiding civilian casualties will be a priority. people like this woman who's husband was killed dur

neither the iraqi military or the peshmerga. for the peshmerga, the kurdish fighters in the north, they are starting to rearm them, refit them, get them more weapons, more ammunition. they're very sturdy bunch. and they have been fighting against isis around the clock. a number of iraqi units collapsed when isis made its march earlier this year across northern iraq. the idea of course is to get them back into the fight. i think what you're looking at is sort of this jigsaw puzzle. no one element, according to the administration, is going to really work. it all has to come together. you have to have all of it. and to follow on what nic is saying. right now, isis controls vast areas of western, northern iraq, vast areas of syria. so, if you can put all these pieces together and begin chipping away at their control, at the areas where they are just in total control and engaging in all of these atrocities to keep the people in check there, if you can chip away at that, eventually, can you get to that tipping point, where their hold

>> translator: i think peshmerga's proof that they are capable. it's true that from the first days from the assaults of the isis that peshmerga's had some loss, but after the securing the air strikes, peshmerga managed to control the areas to stop the expansions and the offensive of the isis and also by driving them out of the areas and the persshmergas have been successf with that. the we do believe they have initiative and are on the offensive. >> reporter: are you prepared to go outside your borders of kurdistan, let's say mosul, and fight there. >> translator: our top priority is to protect our borders and the peoples with the different proponents of the kurdish society with all the proponents that we have here. but if there would be a comprehensive program with the iraqi federal government and our allies so wherever we can, we will support any kinds of the programs against them. >> reporter: tell me, how effective have the u.s. air strikes been, considering they have been quite limited in their scope. >> translator: i can say that the air str

it really is slowing down the peshmerga advance. obviously they are also waiting for more of the global coalition to come to the fight. you mentioned that france is committing fighter jets to cover the skies of northern iraq. we know australia is committed to those air strikes as well. so momentum is definitely building as more and more countries, christine, get involved. >> anna coren in northern iraq. thank you. >>> a chilling media message from isis. the video features a british journalist. because he is delivering propaganda under duress, we are not playing it on air. we have more with karl penhaul in london. >> reporter: he was kidnapped in 2012. he was traveling and kidnapped at the same time as james foley. the u.s. journalist that was executed by isis. this video that we're seeing now is very different in nature to the way isis has shown its previous hostages. in this video, the jihadi known as jihadi john is not in the video. instead, john cantlie is at a desk in a news style. that is central to the message. what he is sayi

the kurdish peshmerga say isis have gone to ground thanks to american aircraft. just the sound of american planes is enough to send fighters scurrying for cover. british tornadoes will soon be joining them. airstrikes are already making a difference. yesterday afternoon on the other side of the river, three local commanders were killed in an american bombing. the peshmerga are telling us when they have defensively pushed them back, they will need more than air support. new guns are at the top of the list. burton has sent new supplies. >> you may have heard the news we are receiving weapons. i am telling you we have not deceived as much as promised. to everyone listening, please send support quickly. >> more than one million have been displaced here. iraq's people have been divided. if the country is to be pieced back together, it will need outside help. >> we just want to go back to our city, this man told us. whatever drives them out, we just want to be able to take our family's home. >> there is no work, no money. everyone is miserable. if they attack isis, it

. >> we are asking the united states that they should help the peshmergas with heavy armament. >> are we talking tanks and artillery? >> why not. tanks, heavy artillery, and mraps. >> reporter: many raps are armored tanks and it looked like the peshmerga could use them. there was evidence of a battle one, but all the weapons they loaded were light. no artillery, no effective armor. you can imagine how they feel about the sound of american jets. >> thank you, america. thank you, obama. >> reporter: iraq had been building a future, but its aspirations are now occupied by a past it cannot escape. we found families, what's left of them, running from isis's brand of religious extremism. nadia told us the men of her village were herded behind a school. there was shooting, and a boy came to tell the women what he saw. >> what did the little boy say? >> all the men were being kill bud we didn't believe him because he was just a little boy. with the men, more than 100 in a mass grave, nadia told us the women were loaded into dump trucks and taken to a city to be given away as prizes to isis so

to assist in placing iraqi security forces and peshmerga forces on the offensive, to support the broader diplomatic efforts in the region, and to continue to work with iraqi security forces and ministries, and with that, we'll take your questions. >> reporter: general when you talked about the mission continuing you did not mention the coreson group. can we expect more against the coreson group? and do you have any [ inaudible ] damage assessment against them? do you believe it's possible you killed their leader? do you have any sense of what you accomplishes that you are able to give us? >> as i'm sure you probably know, we're still assessing the effects of our strikes, but we have been watching this group closely for sometime. we believe they were nearing an execution phase of an attack either in europe or the homeland. we know the coreson group has attempted to recruit operatives. they clearly are not focused on either the assad regime or the syrian people. they are establishing routes in syria in order to advance attacks against the west and the homeland. >> do you have any sense of

the peshmerga on the front line of mosul says the same thing. they are not seeing weapons getting through or in preparation for a push on mosul. >> we did hear of weapons, we got information about that. we have not seen weapons so far. >> the iraqi government insisted that all foreign shipments must go through baghdad. the kurd suggested a fortnight ago that the planes land in erbil, but are suspected by a representative from baghdad. >> there was no reply. it was suggested that the planes touch down in baghdad, are checked and flown north. >> the longer the shipments are delayed, the longer the peshmerga are outgunned. >> bureaucratic rang lipping is helping -- wrangling is doing nothing to help those on the line from mosul. >>> syrian rebels and government forces resumed fighting in the golan heights. it is taking place in the country side on the syrian-controlled side of the territory, upped israeli occupation. loft month rebel fighters kidnapped 45 u.n. peacekeepers in the area. >> the ancient city of aleppo has seen some of the fierce fight

we've got 300,000 fighters between the peshmerga and the iraqi army. combine that with american airpower, certainly they will have the capability to stop and roll up what isis has done in iraq. once they get back into syria, however, there's no boots on the ground. and if we're relying on the free syrian army to be our boots on the ground, we're making a miscalculation. the commander of the free syrian army yesterday said he's not interested in a coalition, the coalition. he doesn't want to participate with the united states because he's not interested in fighting isis. he's interested in fighting the syrian regime. >> has america called him, by the way? if he's not interested in aligning with us and our entire strategy is apparently arming him and training his forces -- >> seems like we're not listening. he's said, i'm not interested in this. but we're pressing ahead with plans to train them, setting up a training program in saudi arabia for them. >> why tell graegraph all this? back in 2001, america went after al qaeda in iraq and chased them through

the peshmerga has gone house to house dismantling improvised explosive difficult ices. this had command wires buried under the road, and found explosives left under a toilet seat. the peshmerga took us to a town where the shia fighters beheaded an arab sunni residence. >> when we witnessed it, it made us angry. we cannot accept it. it's non-acceptable. we ordered them to stop and we promised to do so. >> the shia militia don't take orders. one filmed this man on the day the family fell. he's bringing orders to the farsi. they witness said many fighters. the president announces an expansion of air strikes, he risks allowing the shia militia to take control of more and more of the sunni arab territory. it will do nothing to win the hearts and minds of the territory. >>> we asked the badr corp feature for reaction to the accusations, and a spokesman said: iraq's prime ministers ordered troops to stop shelling areas inhabited by civilians in the battle against the islamic state group. >> translation: two days ago i gave orders to suspend air tricks in places where there are

airstrikes, the peshmerga are now on the offensive and eventually, the peshmerga will be moving toward mosul, which is an occupied city of more than $1.5 million people. these are the pictures coming out of mosul these days. it is chaos, according to a doctor we found who is moving in and out of the city. we won't identify him for his safety. "mosul is like a big prison with limited water and gas," he told us. "electricity only shows up once every two days. the people have no work. there's a massive shortage of medicine." what are some of the rules in mosul today that people have to live under because of isis? "they control life, clothing, everything in a very harsh way, very strict, and very strict punishments." isis is posting those punishments online, boasting of mass executions of people who refuse to convert to its extremist view of islam. sayid told us that last month, isis rounded up more than 100 men in his village and told them they were being taken to a refugee camp. it turned out to be a short trip to a mass grave. "they told us to lie flat on the ground, he said," and then

>> the germans are sending three shipments of over. $90 million of arms to the peshmerga in september. we're looking at everything from machine guns and rifles, handguns, bazooka, antitank missiles and armored vehicles. all significant in the fight against isis because it's thought that isis has the equivalency of these types of weapons they're fighting the peshmerga and other forces in iraq right now. >> ironic that isis basically loosened the coffers of the iraqi military, got the humvees and other battlefield weapons that the u.s. left behind. so now the peshmerga are left almost with peashooters against american military equipment. >> it is time that we start supplying the people who are fighting isis right now, with the equipment, the ammunition, everything that they need to fight isis inside of iraq. but what we need to remember now is that isis is operating as a military. they're essentially a terrorist army. so they have a military structure. we need to u.s. strategy needs to ensure we are fighting them on the syrian front as well as the iraqi front, and that goes -- that mean

air-strikes, the peshmerga are now on the offensive and eventually, the peshmerga will be moving toward mosul, which is an occupied city of more than 1.5 million people. these are the pictures coming out of mosul these days. it is chaos, according to a doctor we found who is moving in and out of the city. we won't identify him for his safety. "mosul is like a big prison with limited water and gas," he told us. "electricity only shows up once every two days. the people have no work. there's a massive shortage of medicine." what are some of the rules in mosul today that people have to live under because of isis? "they control life, clothing, everything in a very harsh way, very strict, and very strict punishments." isis is posting those punishments online, boasting of mass executions of people who refuse to convert to its extremist view of islam. sayid told us that last month, isis rounded up more than 100 men in his village and told them they were being taken to a refugee camp. it turned out to be a short trip to a mass grave. "they told us to lie flat on the ground," he said, "and then

. >> we are asking the united states that they should help the peshmergas with heavy armament. >> pelley: are we talking about tank tanks and artillery? >> why not, yes, tanks, helicopters, heavy armaments, because these are very important. >> pelley: mraps are armored troop carriers and the peshmerga we met looked like they could use them. there was evidence of a battle won, but all of the weapons they reloaded were light-- no artillery, no effective armor. you can imagine how they feel about the sound of american jets. >> thank you, america. thank you, obama. >> pelley: iraq had been building a future, but its aspirations are now occupied by a past it cannot escape. we found families, what's left of them, running from isis' brand of religious extremism. nadia told us the men of her village were herded behind a school. there was shooting, and a boy came to tell the women what he saw. what did the little boy say? "all the men were being killed but we didn't believe him because he was just a little boy." with the men, more than 100 in a mass grave, nadia told us the women were loded into

. >> we are asking the united states that they should help the peshmergas with heavy armament. >> pelley: are we talking about tanks and artillery? >> why not? yes, tanks, helicopters, heavy armaments, m-raps, because these are very important. >> pelley: m-raps are armored troop carriers and the peshmerga we met looked like they could use them. there was evidence of a battle won, but all of the weapons they reloaded were light-- no catillery, no effective armor. you can imagine how they feel about the sound of american jets. >> thank you, america. thank you, obama. >> pelley: iraq had been building a future, but its aspirations are now occupied by a past it cannot escape. we found families, what's left of them, running from isis' brand of religious extremism. nadia told us the men of her village were herded behind a school. there was shooting, and a boy came to tell the women what he saw. what did the little boy say? "all the men were being killed but we didn't believe him because he was just a little boy." with the men, more than 100 in a mass grave, nadia told us the women were loaded

kurdish peshmerga troops are poised for a push towards mosul. the islamic state group no longer fire back. movements are punished by the mortar tricks, like this one. in a 3-hour battle troops capture zer tech mountain and bombarded the villages below. left vacant by the christians and yazidi. >> translation: these are the villages, this is the i.s., armed i.s. outside the village. they bombarded here, and no longer have the capabilitiment peshmerga on the front line feel great. rncht a city of 2 million, mosul is the iraqi capital of the islamic state. as mosul goes, so goes the war for rick. >> this is the -- iraq. >> reporter: this is the forward-most point for the peshmerga in iraq. in the nearby ground is bartela, a christian town held by the islamic state group, and behind it is mosul itself. >> commanders say they are waiting on an order to push towards the most fortified bastion in iraq. first, they want the backing of sunni and shia so far ass. they want air strikes and arms. >> we need weapons, we need support, outside help. we need ev

you have the peshmerga. they are not well-equipped. and they would need to go into an offensive. iraqi government, as you point out, anderson, is incapable and they proved that to stand up to isis it's going to take a year or more to vet the leadership, to get credible leadership, to train them. and then if they are sunnis, they are going to have to have something to fight for or believe in. and then the so-called moderates providing arms, we're not certain who is getting these arms and whether or not they will stand up. they have another fight going on with assad. >> that's the thing. one leader of a group quoted "the new york times" as saying, look, we want to fight assad. he's our priority. after that, we can deal with the extremist groups. that's exactly what the u.s. wants to hear. the u.s. wants them to turn and fight isis. >> but that collection on the ground to me is not substantial enough. remember when the marines were in falluja and anbar, that was a tough fight. >> right. >> without u.s. ground forces on the ground, it's not going to be credible and you're not going t

they have fought against the iraqi army and the peshmerga. today is very different, we are told to pull over, militia men, aim rifles rocket grenades and ak .47s right at us. they are also peshmerga fighters, but it's very clear that the shia fighters make the decisions here, and they are very reluctant to allow us to go through. we are trying to get through a village that they flattened and torched, that used to have israelis in it. >> they eventually let us through. we arrive in the village, it's deserted. the peshmerga has a position close by but they are now pulling out, leaving the militia in total control. the commander says they respect the house they have set up in. >> we are giving our lives to unite iraq, others are not doing that, particularly the badr organization. this is not acceptable. >> reporter: the peshmerga has gone house to house, dismanipulate ling the devices. they even found devices left under a toilet seat. they tell us the shia fighters beheaded an arab sunni resident and put the footage online. this was a message of

injured peshmerga fighters believes the true figure is higher. sue turton was given rare access to hospital wards in erbil. >> reporter: the fight for northern iraq etched across this man's face. his unit pushed to mosul, when his week hit an improvised explosive device, killing one and injuring others. >>. >> translation: we don't have specialised equipment for i.e.d.s, it's a huge problem. no one daughter us how to deal with them. the enemy nose. >> this man was on the same operation when his unit came face to face with his enemy. >> i host christopher gibson my nephew, they killed me. he fired a weapon, a machine gun, and he was shot in the head. >> reporter: we were given rare access to hospital wards of kurdish fighters. the fight of wounded soldiers it would hurt moral among the army and kurdish people, it was felt. >> translation: we are losing a lot of people. there's a huge difference between us and them. they came to die, and when they ran out of ammunition, they blow themselves up. >> reporter: the peshmerga fought against the islamic

you'll absolutely be right but the military on the ground that's acceptable on the ground are peshmerga, free syrian army, iraqi army and may be intervention forces from muslim and arab countries who can be supported if necessary equipped and armed and taped by the west. i think the big iraq and afghanistan over the last ten years is that even though they'll deploy western military forces and do so for the best of the people our presence has quickly turned around and become more of the problem so therefore on the ground we need to see movement soldiers. we can support them with intelligence and support them from the air. >> richard dennet who served in afghanistan and iraq previously. well, in president obama's speech detailing how the u.s. will fight isis yemen was mentioned as a blueprint for success but can the white house really claim its efforts to curb terror there have been successful? brian todd looked into that for us. >> reporter: isis can be rolled back, the president says and he cites two examples americans can pin their hopes on. >> the strategy of taking out terrorists who

civilians are preparing to protect themselves, unsure if the peshmerga can hold the line. an increased security threat was announced two days ago with a warning that isil is preparing to target civilians in public places. >> isil is waging a social media war with a steady flow of hollywood style real action trailers, beheading videos undermining morale. kurdish spirits have been listed. they need to promise weapons to arrive to the battlefield. al jazeera. erbil. >> it representatives for presidential candidates. abdullah abdullah has reached a power sharing it will agreement. they were the top candidates. allegations of fraud after the june run off election led to a political standoff. in yemen, fighting is intensifying with warnings the country could be hours away from civil war. government forces are fighting the houti officials. cease-fire talks have fallen apart. dozen killed in the capitol healthcare workers in sierra leon are going house to house on the second day of a nationwide e ebola curfew. it's a drastic, unprecedented move to control the spread of the deadly

pitched battles against kurdish peshmerga. the islamic state group debt necessitates massive car bombs often with deadly effect. this video shows a islamic state woman disease as a muslim woman. >> the car left suddenly it exploded. i was injured by the glass. >> in the iraqi capital of kirkuk, several injured, including one-year-old daniel in the apartment upstairs. >> the bomb, everything -- >> glass? >> yes, glass. >> the shop may have been targeted because it owned liquor, also, because it was owned by kurdish yazidis. >> three nearly simultaneous bombs killed three and injured 127 including peshmerga troops inside this building devastating this entire neighborhood. >> our family came from batella, from ninevah province. islamic state came to our village and attacked and took everything. we fled from there. >> where is the security? we haven't found it. we fled because of explosions, came here and there are more explosions. >> reporter: the owner of this shop says he won't open again until the islamic state fighters have l

how come arming the peshmerga is different. we believe the kurds need the support of the united states. and we need the weapons that we have requested in order to achieve the objective. and to -- because we're fighting on behalf of the free world. we're fighting the terrorists. and we are alone on the ground. therefore, we have received some support, but that support has to continue. >> last thing quickly, the kurds agreed to be part of the government in baghdad for three months. what are you asking for to stay in the iraqi government after the three months? >> we will engage in the political process, and we want to prove to everybody that we want it to succeed. but since our demands were not met, due to the government in the negotiation process, we want to make clear that conditionally we have decided to join the government and have given the new cabinet a three-month period in order to sit down together and address the issues that are important for us. these are important issues. either we will become genuine partners, and go

it's better to destroy them as soon as possible. >> the peshmerga say they are nearly ready for what could be the decisive battle in the war against the islamic state or to use the arabic acronym, dash. >> it's just a matter of time before we throw dash out of iraq. >> with mosul nearly in their sites and islamic state fighters a few hours from their supply lines in syria, time is one commodity the peshmerga have in short supply. >> iraq's ministry of defense has received russian mi28 helicopters to be used in the offensive against the islamic state group. the two countries announced a deal in june, which had russia supplying iraq with attack helicopters and jets. it can carry out guided missile strikes. it is unclear how many aircraft russia has delivered. >> many believe i.s. fighters are expanding their operations and not just in the middle east. muslim areas in asia are vulnerable. we report from manila. >> several armed groups from the southern philippines pledged allegiance to the islamic state. a a commander blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in the philippines recently

these are kurdish peshmerga forces in northern iraq. and right here across the bridge you can see the black flag of isis flying over isis territory. all muslims know what's written there in arabic, “there is no god but god and mohammed is his messenger.” but the true meaning of this banner is written in blood and it's up to another muhammad, first lieutenant hazhar muhammad, to make sure the flag never crosses this bridge. why is this bridge so important?“ this is the road to kirkuk,” he told us. the city of kirkuk is ten milesuw behind us. and it's the gateway to iraq's northern oil fields. do you have orders to destroy this bridge if it comes to that?“ no,” muhammad said, “the people need this bridge, no one's going to take my bridge.” but he couldn't have said that last month. in august, the peshmerga were falling back just 25 miles from their capital city, erbil. the u.s. had stayed out of it for two-and-a-half years but panicked leaders of kurdistan called the white house. and that's what triggered the air strikes.

it is supporting and bolstering the iraqi and the peshmerga to fight for iraq. then there is the strategy moving forward for syria. and the free syrian army, it is still an open question. no one is suggesting that i've heard at this point that the syrian army is going to try in to go into iraq. right now they'll fight the battle in syria, but the question is when you're training and equipping the free syrian army, it is to do what? to do wha fight whom? >> the administration has gotten criticism from how come it took so long, and secretary kerry tested, saying look, we couldn't do that before growing on a new government and agreed on going after them. they said that is the trigger that will engage airstrikes in the president has made it clear it's not just now approaching islamic state out of iraq. it's not about bottling them up in syria, it's about can you do that, which syrian opposition forces do they identify without having to put troops on the ground in syria. republicans are convinced if the islamic state even if they're bottled up and coin takenned in sy

looking at the situation today, specifically in iraq and syria and when we hear from peshmerga forces for example saying thank you to the u.s. because the air strikes have helped them regain ground. you are against the air strikes. so my question to you is how would you propose keeping isis from growing and becoming more of a threat? >> first, we have to decide -- i think the president in his speech laid out and i thought it was a very good teach. he laid an excellent strategy out. first we have to really look at the nonmilitary approach so that we don't create more danger and more hostilities and more rebels armed with our own armerment used against us. we have to have a political initiative and secretary of state -- >> they are a mighty force. >> they are a mighty force and they are very dangerous. however, the president indicated very clearly there's no imminent nor immediate threat. we have to decide if we're going to contain them now or dismantle them. we have to be clear on our strategy and bottom line is we have to have a debate in congress. we have to know what the options are

peshmerga forces are 10 kilometers from the main border crossing from syria to knows you'll. and the general says they're backing against a of superior force. >> as an army, we need everything from a to z, everything from uniforms to small weapons, and body armor, heavy machine guns, and night vision goggles. even if we have mortar, we don't have night vision goggles, we can't see where the enemy is or what he's doing, we need the whole package. >> he might just get his wish. after the head of the u.s. military revealed on tuesday that he could recommend the 1600 american advisers in iraq go on combat missions, the general is getting help from an unlikely quarter. the fighters from the kurdish groups, the ones that have taken neighboring bases actually on iraqi soil. >> these are heavily fortified castles, built by osama bin laden. and it's a relief that the ypg took control of them, and not isil. because when you control them, you control the area. >> reporter: the peshmerga are trying really hard to hold the line, but at the moment, it's a fight against time. they desperate

these are kurdish peshmerga forces in northern iraq. and right here across the bridge you can see the black flag of isis flying over isis territory. all muslims know what's written there in arabic, "there is no god but god and mohammed is his messenger." but the true meaning of this banner is written in blood and it's up to another muhammad, first lieutenant hazhar muhammad, to make sure the flag never crosses this bridge. why is this bridge so importan"" this is the road to kirkuk," he told us. the city of kirkuk is ten miles behind us. and it's the gateway to iraq's northern oil fields. do you have orders to destroy this bridge if it comes to tha"" no," muhammad said, "the people need this bridge, no one's going to take my bridge." but he couldn't have said that last month. in august, the peshmerga were falling back just 25 miles from their capital city, erbil. the u.s. had stayed out of it for two-and-a-half years but panicked leaders of kurdistan called the white house. and that's what triggered the air strikes. you were outgunned?

there's peshmerga, but the shia militias make the decisions. they are reluctant to let us go through. we are trying to film a village they flattened and torched, a village that had sunni arabs in it. they eventually let us through. they say the mosque was shelled by the militia. we arriving in yangija. it's deserted. houses have been torched. one is smouldering. the peshmerga has a position close by. they are pulling out, leaving the militia in total control. the commander says his men respect the arab sunni house they set up camp in. we are giving our lives to unite iraq. others are not doing this. this is not acceptable. >> the peshmerga has gone house to house dismantling improvised devices. this had command wires buried under the road. they found explosives left under a toilet seat. we are taken to a nearby town, where the shia fighters are said to have beheaded an arab sunni resident. >> when we witnessed it, it made us angry. we cannot accept it. we told them if it happened again we'll fight you, we ordered them to stop. they promised to

peshmerga is calling for more weapons to defeat the islamic state group. they say much needed resources are being held up by red tape. the cease-fire in ukraine has been violated a day after signing. each side blaming the other for the infractions with the leaders saying the deal still holds. they say a lot needs to happen if there is to be a lasting peace in ukraine. argues paul brennan reports from the heart of the separatist tear tory in the eastern part of the country. now more than 24 hours into the cease-fire and according to both sides there have been violations. have they been enough to actually rip up the whole deal that was signed in minsk and start again? not according to the two leaders who have spoken by telephone. the president has released a conversation he said he had with vladimir putin. both have agreed in general >> the cease-fire is holding. what what they did say, though, it was also necessary for further steps to take place in order for the cease-fire to be put on a more stable footing. boat leaders underlined the important role of th

they have the peshmerga, the kurdish forces as well as the security, the iraqi security forces. but as we've heard from the united states, you know, there are serious questions over the capability of the iraqi forces, the peshmerga, as we know, there is the will. there is the manpower, but there isn't necessarily the skill. yes, they are getting equipped. yes, a global coalition is sending in the equipment and the weapons so desperately needed. but at the end of the day, rosemary, isis is outgunning these forces, and if it wasn't were those u.s. air strikes, there's a very good chance that erbil would have been overtaken six weeks ago and that isis would have made much more advance across, across iraq. then, you take into consideration syria. you know, there are no troops on the ground. yes, you've got the kurdish militia up around kobani digging in, trying to protect these towns and villages, there is intense fighting there. but as far as raqqah, there is no sign of the syrian military. obviously the united states and the global coalition prepared to train these free syrian arm

. >> the groups are not used to fighting side by side, but the peshmerga, kurdistan, and sunnis banded together. >> translation: we came to join the fight upped muqtada al-sadr's orders, to clear iraq from i.s.i.s. with no difference between sunni, shi'a, kurdish or christian. we came to year is, most came from outside iraq. >> translation: this had become an 80-day siege aring they were surrounded by -- siege, they were surround surrounded by islamic state fighters. many had no food, babies had no water. >> reporter: the air campaign began in earnest the previous days, dropping food and water to the residents, and bombs from the is lines. >> there's pride amongst the peshmerga forces, that that they and the militia men broke the siege. they couldn't have done it without help from the air, the u.s., iraq and iranian helicopters. breaking the siege of amerli hadn't just saved thousands of lives, but lifted moral among the ranks charged with pushing back the islamic state forces. the challenge is not to see if they can keep up momentum, but if they can hold on to the ground. >> battles b

what is the role of general austin and what is the role of iraqi commanders of peshmerga? who is going to make the decisions? >> well, because the general is just a pretty face here and hasn't had to answer a question really except one -- [ laughter ] >> i was hoping he would answer. >> you have never been indirect before, congressman. so with your permission, i will ask general maville. >> the command and control structure begins with iraq and their security forces. our role is to supplement that. we're doing that right now. we will switch out some of the initial assessment teams and replace them with more -- with army advisers that can better help at the general officer level as well as reach into the ministries and assist as well. but the chain of command is an iraqi chain of command enabled by partners in the region. >> pretty face or not, let me try it this way. i started my questioning by asking about targets for air strikes in syria. so if it's not the president of the united states, who is it? >> for targeting, targeting will be planned jointly and enabled by u.s.

peshmerga pushing and trying to clear those villages. the mission here is to seize an area where there was a bridge blown up by isis about a month ago. it is a strategic bridge because of the link between erbil and the city of mosul. this will be the next phase of the operation. the battle for mosul. the plan is for peshmerga to take control of the area and rebuild the bridge for the thoroughway all the way to mosul. you can say the air strikes, the military jets have been circling for hours now and have been launching air strikes. it is making a huge difference on the ground as you can imagine to the forces here. giving them the air cover, but taking out enemy positions that isis vehicles and convoys traveling throughout the plains. it really is making a difference. we spoken to the kurdish president yesterday. we sat down with him. he welcomes president obama's strategy to destroy isis. they need an intensification of the air strikes and jets circling. john, it is active campaign. >> it seems to be a coordinated effort with peshmerga o

. >> the peshmerga? >> the peshmerga. and we see the awakening, the sunni awakening that helped defeat al qaeda. they've offered to help on training and equipment and so forth but they want to see it happen quickly and i think speed is of the essence. >> the ground troops that we're talking about are iraqi troops. the peshmerga, kurdish fighters and moderate syrian rebels. those are the ground troops -- of the 40 coalition partners, including the arab neighbors, have any of them committed to ground forces to fight isis? >> not one has committed to ground forces at this time. >> why is that? >> i think part of it has to do with trepidation about getting involved in that rt part of the wor world. i think they are willing to help put up payments for it and willing to train and some will have intelligence on the ground but they are not going to bring brigades on the ground. they wanted visibly that kurds and arabs are doing the fighting and it's not outside countries except for air support. >> they are much bigger threat to t

counterpart is right next to the iraqi or peshmerga counterpart, giving advice on the front lines. that's a little bit -- i guess it would be consider close combat advising, and that's the difference. >> so i hear you that it's not contradictory. but you can understand why and certainly in situations like these, you're nimble and situations evolve based upon events on the ground. but you can understand why american lawmakers and certainly the american public would have questions before the u.s. gets into this. >> no question. and that's part of the problem. because as you say, words do matter. and it's the president who has gone out here and said so definitively that there will be no ground forces. and there was an interesting moment in the hearings when general dempsey was pressed. and he said that the president had said to him and general dempsey's words to come back to him on a case-by-case basis as to when he as the commander might need u.s. forces in a more forward position. i think we could say that. they've said no ground forces, no combat whatsoever. but here you have them

these are kurdish peshmerga forces in northern iraq. and right here across the bridge you can see the black flag of isis flying over isis territory. all muslims know what's written there in arabic, "there is no god but god and mohammed is his messenger." but the true meaning of this banner is written in blood and it's up to another muhammad, first lieutenant hazhar muhammad, to make sure the flag never crosses this bridge. why is this bridge so important" this is the road to kirkuk," he told us. the city of kirkuk is ten miles behind us. and it's the gateway to iraq's northern oil fields. do you have orders to destroy this bridge if it comes to that" no," muhammad said, "the people need this bridge, no one's going to take my bridge." but he couldn't have said that last month. in august, the peshmerga were falling back just 25 miles from their capital city, erbil. the u.s. had stayed out of it for two-and-a-half years but panicked leaders of kurdistan called the white house. and that's what triggered the air strikes. you were outgunned?

. >> kurdish peshmerga fors in iraq have retaken control of a strategic hill top near mosul. the islamic state group fell to them in jooup when fighters -- june, when fighters pushed inside kurdish territory. >> much of kirkuk has fallen. oil drives to a city. as reported from kirkuk, it is being threatened by the islamic state. >> reporter: this flame has been burning for longer than recorded history. it was written about in fifth century b.c. a sea of gas and oil defined kirkuk. today kirkuk is wedged between a rock and a semiautonomous area. the kurds longed for independence, but the area is a mix of arabs. turkmen and kurds, and baghdad is not keen to let kirkuk become part of kurdistan. >> independence of kurdistan is unthinkable. if you look at it - the land is kurdistan. the land is kurdistan, there's no deputy about it. >> what is dispute is what is beneath the land. that is oil. kirkuk is home to one of the oldest and richest oil fields and there is enough to tip the balance of power in the region. when the islamic state swept across northern iraq, the kurdish army o

the peshmerga has kept the media out for now. fearing that the site of wounded soldiers would hurt morale among its army and the kurdish people. >> we're losing a lot of people because there is such a huge difference between us and them. they come to die. when they run out of ammunition they blow themselves up. >> reporter: the peshmerga have fight against the islamic state in iraq and the levant taking on far bigger guns with little more than assault rifles and rocket rocket-propelled grenades but their official death toll is 200, it's a sensitive subject that could effec affect morale. >> reporter: before we have always fought with parts. patri. but we need more than patriotism. we're alone in fighting them for the whole world. >> reporter: in central erbil the weapons market is busy. civilians are preparing to protect themselves. unsure that th the person measurega can hold the line. >> this weapons market has been here since 1991, but it's never been this busy. as i.s. gets closer and closer to the city, their business has ro

the peshmerga are start to be gain momentum. but they say the momentum which is so important on the ground is at risk as washington stalls on the decision other whether to sends more support for the fight fight here. >> translator: o on the frontline we realize the per herring are are not alone. they are fighting in a coalition that would have been unmanageable only a few months ago. setting aside checkered histories. the per herring are are along the sigh rack i arm and i shia militias such as these fighters from the league of the righteous a hardcore group of iranian backed fighters who formed during the years of u.s. occupation here. on the way back from the battlefield we came across this convoy where troops are amassing alongside the road. these are shia fighters, in fact they are the medi army which is u.s. army is very familiar with when they were fighting in iraq. this is al sadr the head of the army. they declined to speak on camera but weren't shy about letting us film. strange bed fellows for the u.s. military in this

to assist in placing iraqi security forces in peshmerga forces on the offensive. to support the broader diplomatic efforts in the region to be implement a syrian train and equip program, and to continue to work with iraqi security forces and ministries. with that, we'll take your questions. >> reporter: when you talk about the mission continuing you didn't mention the khorasan group. can you tell us at all, do you expect the more against the khorasan group, should they assume this is it? and do you have any battle damage assessment against them. do you belief it's possible you killed their leader, do you have any sense what you accomplished? anything you're able to give us? >> as i'm you probably know. we've been assessing the strikes. we have been watching the group for some time. we believe they were close in executing an attack against europe on the homeland. we know the khorasan group has attempted to recruit westerners. the khorasan group is clearly not focussed on the assad regime or the syrian people. they are establishing roots in syria in order to advance

they want peshmerga to be given more weapons, support and fighters paid a salary. at the moment, kyrgystan is a part of this great new government, but comes with a deadline. >> we could learn by the end of the week who killed or murdered those two american journalists. there are a number of reports out a that say officials are close to identifying the man that killed james foley and steven sotloff. >> another rebel group maybe making gains in carving out an islamic state in nigeria. there are reports that the group in iraq and syria is advising boko haram in northern nigeria. coming up, we'll speak with they say there are hundreds of thousands of people potentially trapped still here in their homes. but most people here are happy with the army's help, but they're saying that much more needs to be done. many people here have lost their voices, trying to rescue people, and they say that it will take days, not weeks, before they know the full extent of the damage here. >> engineers are putting up flood dikes to reduce water pressure and preventing larger cities from b

you do have iraqi forces there, the peshmerga, and hopefully some units of the iraqi military, now that you have an inclusive government and shia militias. the problem is syria. at some point the free syrian army may be ready. it will not happen quickly. as has been pointed out, no matter what you do, you'll help someone you don't want to help. if you get i.s.i.s. out, you bring in the al nusra, the al qaeda offshoot, or bring in bashar al-assad. i think the hope in syria is that we could do a decapitation strike like we did about osama bin laden or something, and at some point have the russians interseed to come up with a netted solution down the road. it's hard to see us going in and taking it over. >> does that willingness to send planes signal a squeamishness or a recognition of how complicated this is once you put soldiers standing on terra firma? >> absolutely. turkey has been clear. they are very reductant to get into this. we need turkey. 500 miles of common border between syria and furky. most of the rebels go back and forth between turkey, and they refused to join in the milit