and work to ensure a safe future for allll iraqis. over the years, united states institute of peace has supported iraqi minorities to advance their rights and emphasize the vital importance of their venuses in local and national governance in ensuring fair representation, safety and security for all iraqis. the institute works to find practical solutions for preventing and resolving violent conflict. that's what we do. we do this by working on the ground in iraq and other countries around the world with local partners so they can become catalysts for peace in their own communities. the u.s. has been in iraq uninterrupted since 2003 withwe offices in baghdad and -- they -- areas recently liberated from isis through dilog, joint problem solving. usip continues to support the alliance of iraqi minorities, coalition of civil society e organizations that provides a voice for minority groups and works on their behalf in practical terms. was formed no 2011 and made up or 13 nongovernmental organizations working to advance the rights of chris

the iraqi army of 2017 is not the iraqi army of 2014. the government is not the same and the people are not the same. i was recently at a workshop, conference in aspen where people talked about relationships between the united states. i have to tell you for me the real work began in 2014 and its consequence was that it really brought all iraqi's together. one of the most emotionally charged images is iraqi officers in the prime minister standing side-by-side greeting the rest of the areas that have been captured by isis and it hasn't been easy. it is hard and i have to tell you i think the road ahead is even harder because we still haven't finished the liberation of iraq. we still have to deal with tall afar and is isis morphs into a successful organization we will have to still keep on fighting and we have to stand together. on the issues that we will have to face that the ambassador just raised on the status of where minorities are in iraq simply put for most iraqi's and certainly for the iraqi government iraq is not iraq without its m

iraqi armed units head for the city of tal afar, 80 kilometres west of mosul. troops have the area surrounded and for several days, warplanes bombed is positions. so—called islamic state has held it since 2014. in a televised speech, the iraqi prime minister announced the start of the ground offensive to retake the city. translation: i told them to either surrender or die. as we promised before, we promise now, we will continue the liberation process. it's five weeks since the iraqi government declared victory in mosul, iraq's second city, after a fierce nine—month battle. around 2,000 is militants are thought to remain in tal afar. thousands of civilians have fled under the cover of darkness for weeks now. it's not known how many remain. translation: if they had caught us, they would've given us a bullet to the head. thank god we fled. the situation over there is dire. they have no food, water anything to drink. the un has warned of a new wave of displaced civilians with fighting intensifying, and if the iraqi troops succeed in liberating tal afar, it will

of iraqi minorities. it represents miners including baha'i.ns, wonderful joined by a advocate for these communities here in washington who i think deserves considerable credit for the work that he and his office has done to advocate on their behalf. he serves as a special adviser for religious minorities in near east and south central asia and the state department in washington d c. and the director of the middle east program here at the institute of peace. he joined usip in 2011 and i am a very strong supporter of the remarkable work he and his team have been doing in terms of building reconciliation on the ground. to start the conversation i wanted to ask you if you could about the conditions minorities need to see in order to return to their home. fiamma member of iraqi parliament and i represented the yazidi community. it's an honor and pleasure to be with you today, especially now. the third anniversary of the brutal attack of my people. three years ago, my people were living their daily life in peac

the iraqi army of 2017 is not the iraqi army of 2015. the government and the people are not the same. i was recently at a conference in aspen where people talked about the relationships between the united states and america after ten years of war. i have to tell you, for me the real world again in 2014. and its consequences that it really brought all iraqis together. one of the most emotionally charged images of this picture were iraqi soldiers, the prime minister, was standing side-by-side before liberated the rest of the areas that have been captured by isis. and it hasn't been easy. it is hard. and i have to tell you, i think the road ahead is even harder. because we still haven't finished the liberation of iraq, we still have to deal with many areas, and that is isis morse into a successor organization, we will have to still keep on fighting it. we have to stand together, but on the issues that it will have to face, the issues that the investor just raised on the status of minorities in iraq, simply put, for most iraqis it's really f

iraqis wanted us forces out, 0bama withdrew all forces in 2011. do you think american forces need to come back? no, no, i am not suggesting this. i am suggesting that the united states should have clear policies and they need to advise the iraqi government because they have a moral obligation to do so. they have a legal obligation to do so. they are defending the united states in the world from islamic state, but iraq is the theatre for this conflict. they need to be more careful and work more clearly with the moral as well as the other obligations. talking about the moral obligations, you are the vice president of iraq, have you met donald trump? not yet. you said not long ago, there is a vacuum in the overall leadership in the world. really pointing a finger at the americans. yes. you said the americans need to get back to their role as the international power. yes. i still stand by this statement. not using the military. but to exercise their political role as well as the military role. there is a vacuum in the leadership. in world leadership.

does iraqi have a viable future? ayad allawi, welcome to hardtalk let's begin with the fallout from iraqi's national army victory over so—called islamic state in mosul. hyderabad even claimed it as a great victory for iraq. there was a sense of triumphalism in his voice. are you feeling triumphant today? not really. it was not like winning the war. we want to win the war against extremism and terrorism, and mosul of course was a good achievement, but indeed we have not to lose sight of the people of mosul, what their stea dfastness of the people of mosul, what their steadfastness did, and what the international community did, including the united kingdom and america and australia and so on. what we want to achieve really, and this is not the end of the story — i wa nt this is not the end of the story — i want hyderabad e, i want the president, we want to win the war, and that should be done by abolishing extremism as a whole from society and this can only be done by having an inclusive political process and hav

this is what the iraqi government should focus on when they talk to mosul. the referendum has to take place. they cannot run away from this. but there is another way of rationalising the issue of the referendum in the questioning. the statement that should come out on this issue of the referendum, if they continue this is to separate iraq and kurdistan, this is going to be very bad for everybody in the region, not only iraq. this is the promises that have been laid down, i am not blaming anybody but powers including the united states have a hand in this, when they occupied iraq... they dismantled the whole country. i was going to ask you about the united states. one factor we have not discussed is the role of the united states. president trump, for the last six months in power in washington... do you believe the americans are actually understanding just how dangerous the situation in iraq is? i don't think they are understanding, i don't think they wa nt to understanding, i don't think they want to understand. i think even be a conflict on isis, they were on

army or the iraqi people. for the first time in her long experience of humanitarian work had an army put into its strategic and tactical forctives and priorities the preservation of civilian life. that is remarkable. of 2017 is not the army of 2014. we have to complete our stabilization and then will have to engage in construction. humongous. are nobody has come up with a definite figure. to a conference in 2018 to try to help us and we look beyond that to all her neighbors to chip in. it is part of the stability of the region. that we will have to look at the issues of governance. the trend of the politics that tensionin iraq have the of the government's artistic. decentralization is the right thing to do. it is the efficient thing to do. nobody is covering better than my people govern themselves. this is what is the plan. we intend to have elections at the beginning of next year. i am forward to you sending observers. two may be contradictory expertise this, iraqi counterterrorism service areamerican officer

in a televised speech, the iraqi prime minister said thejihadists speech, the iraqi prime minister said the jihadists have a speech, the iraqi prime minister said thejihadists have a choice will stop translation: said thejihadists have a choice will stop translationzlj said thejihadists have a choice will stop translation: i tell daesh, you either surrender or die. as we promised before, we promise now, we will continue the liberation process. thousands of civilians have fled tal afar at that has been controlled by so—called islamic state since the 2014. it has been a very difficult journey and a very difficult climate and circumstances. the closest areas where people can get any support or be received in the screening sites where humanitarian organisations like 0xfam are present, providing emergency food surprise and jinking water, is ours. it is ours and hours of walking through desert under a temperature of 50 degrees. transition mag thank god we fled. the situation over there is dire. they have no food or water anything to drink. several areas around tal afa r to drink. several ar

tal afar is about 50 miles west of mosul, which fell to iraqi forces only last month. mosul was once home to more than one million people. but after three years of isis occupation and a brutal 9-month battle to reclaim it, the city has been reduced to rubble. in tonight's signature segment, "newshour weekend" special correspondent marcia biggs and videographer alessandro pavone went to mosul and its outskirts to hear the stories of those who survived the siege. a warning: some viewers may find portions of this story disturbing. >> reporter: this is what is left of mosul's old city, the last stand of isis after a brutal nine-month siege. entire neighborhoods flattened by airstrikes, thousands dead under the rubble. and for those who escaped mosul alive, this is their foreseeable future. the united nations estimates the battle for mosul displaced more than 700,000 civilians. most are living in the 20 or so camps in the area, run by the iraqi and kurdish governments with support from the u.n. and aid agencies, sleeping in tents where temperatures reach 120 degrees fahrenh

the iraqis patientedded this one. the wires before that, that's the iraqi power grid. interesting but the top wires are the state electricity, which is free. if you want to screw up an electric system, give people free electricity. and they'd get maybe eight hours a day of free electricity but once the electricity ran out the wires, the other wires wrapped around the pole there are wires to local generator operators and baghdad was powered 24 hours a day, just that at love theme was by local generator operatessors who war making money hand over fist, and we didn't consider that a real job. asked them what do you want from at the government? i want other jab. it's another a job. that's centralized economy, the mindset they empose on people. had to learn to accept local solutions. this is a place south of basra, near basra, a meeting with the local council that the two -- in the front there, that's the sunni and the shiite, shia sheikh flows log tribe to talk about how well they got along and how everything was down and how the reckon sides. thises and wanted everybody t

we were rolling through taking whole battalions of iraqi soldiers. that did not happen this time around and after the looting was allowed to happen he didn't have a place-- he didn't have a mechanism to-- you couldn't find people. you had no officer corps. the entire top echelon of the army they had 300 generals and they were all basically like political patronage jobs. all of those folks went away. you can't run an army with just infantrymen particularly conscripts, so what happened was in addition you didn't have resources to train them, in order to equip them. it was all gone and what bremmer did within the first two months, really that he was there was to graduate the first battalion of the new iraqi army, so the process of rebuilding the military and old way most of people that were subject to this under the rank of colonel all were able to come back and folks that were part of the iraqi civil service because you had to be a member basically to have a job. most of those people were ultimately retired and i'm not talking about a year or two years

that is because they were the ex—officers of the iraqi army. they were hiding in tal afar after 2003, and this was ca ptu red tal afar after 2003, and this was captured by al-qaeda briefly between 2004 and 2006, and then again in 2014 by the so—called islamic state. most of those elements were running from tal afar in the week that the fighting was going on. they went to this small village of al—ayadiya, and all the fighting is now going on in that small village, which is why the iraqi army is running a very intense battle there. is there any way out for the islamic state fighters who are there, or is this a fighters who are there, or is this a fight to the death? experts watching al—ayadiya say there are two or three tunnels between al—ayadiya and fracker, but the iraqi army tried to prevent them from using them. the syrian regime and the american forces running the umbrella batter over there, they are waiting for them over there. if the battle for al—ayadiya, mosul and the other battle in iraq, if the three battles are closed for th

so the force we are working with, the iraqi security forces, we have trained 100,000 members of the iraqi security forces in total. they have never lost a battle. it is in iraq a secretive force that had almost collapsed, those forces and units that we have trained in the coalition have never lost a battle. in syria, with the campaign against isis, we are working primarily with the syrian democratic forces, a force of about 50,000, half of them are kurds. they also have never lost a battle. the training forces, i have been to syria about three times over past six months, and our training forces on the ground in syria are full. as we move into areas that particularly among the sunni arab population, the training classes are full because people want to get back to their homes and kick isis out of the area. so, training classes are full and they have never lost a battle. also importantly, what we call the vetted syrian opposition, on particular the parts of syria i will point to on the map, supported by the turkish forces, an area known as the euphrates shield zone, also effectively cleared

we have an enormous amount of iraqi pows. we were rolling through and we were taking you know, whole battalions of iraqi soldiers. that did not happen this time around. and after the looting was allowed to happen, he did not have any place. you do not have any mechanism to pay them. you do not have, you cannot find people. you have no officer corps. the entire top echelon of the army, saddam hussein had 300 generals and they were all basically you know what political. all of those folks went away. you cannot run an army with just infantrymen. particularly conscripts. so what happened was in addition obviously did not have any place, you had no resources. in order to train them, in order to equip them. it was all gone. and what we did, what bremmer did within the first two months really, that he was there was to graduate the first the timing of the new iraqi army. so the process of rebuilding the military and ultimately most of the people that were part or subject to this under the rank of colonel all were able to come back an

tal afar, according to the iraqi government, is already back to the iraqi army. the important thing now is that the battle has moved from tal afar to another smaller town and that town is basically 15 kilometres from tal afar, it is smaller but it is more important as it is closer to raqqa, the town in syria considered to be the town in syria considered to be the caliphate of so—called islamic state. the importance of that is according to the iraqi government, tal afar has fallen under the iraqi government in one week, which considers to be very fast falling back under the iraqi government. if this proves to be right it will be like a landmark for the iraqi government given that its 2000 fighters of isis being defeated in one week. because battles in other strategic towns and cities we have heard the news they were about to reta ke heard the news they were about to retake it and then it has been a big delay and weeks or months before they actually did. yes, the iraqi army say they have been using light r , army say they have been using light weaponry, which is

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhood to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops try to erase the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes. while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. translation: the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. our troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between ten and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even if this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. stay with us here on bbc news. still to come: is the popularity of camping off the landscape threatening nature? he is the first african—american to accept the presidential nomination of a major party, and he accepts 45 years ago to the da

there are the issues that all iraqis want, education for children. and then the last element is what we have also heard, the questions of accountability. how do we make sure those people who perpetrated unimaginable evils against innocence are held accountable. this is -- and i could go on. there are more issues to discuss, but these are the areas that we are pursuing. we are not doing this alone. we are working very closely. you heard the presentations earlier. we are also working with our allies in the region both through the defeat isis coalition to help bring resources to meet the huge stabilization needs and we are working with european allies. we have specific multi-lateral focused on promoting freedom but also working with just most recently to help focus international tension on the specific needs which are often as we have heard, distinct from the majority. so i would just conclude by saying we are at a pivot point. there's a moment of great opportunity and a moment of great parol. with isis being pushed out we have an opportunity to see con

iraqi armed units head for the city of tal afar, 80 kilometres west of mosul. troops have the area surrounded and for several days, warplanes bombed is positions. so—called islamic state has held it since 2014. in a televised speech, the iraqi prime minister announced the start of the ground offensive to retake the city. translation: i tell daesh to either surrender or die. as we promised before, we promise now, we will continue the liberation process. it's five weeks since the iraqi government declared victory in mosul, iraq's second city, after a fierce nine—month battle. around 2,000 is militants are thought to remain in tal afar. thousands of civilians have fled under the cover of darkness for weeks now. it's not known how many remain. translation: if they had caught us, they would've given us a bullet to the head. thank god we fled. the situation over there is dire. they have no food, water or anything to drink. the un has warned of a new wave of displaced civilians when fighting intensifying, and if the iraqi troops succeed in liberating tal afar, it

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhood to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops try to erase the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes. while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. translation: the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. our troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between ten and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even if this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. let's go back to our top story, the storm in texas. on the line isjoey nichols in cypress. can you tell us what happened to you? the clouds we re what happened to you? the clouds were already very low and we noticed that they started, and th

you from the iraqi state of law coalition today so let's talk about this new line in the iraqi government has acknowledged this abuse yet what's next what follows all prosecutions i guess or not. yes on the basis of transparency and fairness a full investigation was launched. and came up with the with the facts that these atrocities were committed by this officer with his troops who were under his command and that officer was removed and arrested for the crimes committed against innocent people or against suspects. with no regard to human rights and no regard to the strict orders that were given to the iraqi army and the iraqi police to be utmost care to pay out most care to civilians and the whole battle with isis is to save our civilians from isis and not to prosecute this horrible disgusting way so he group of his under his command have been arrested and waiting for a trial so to be clear did the buck stop with this one commanding officer or should it have gone higher in your view are you happy that the buck stopped with this guy in charge of this iraqi officer was there any role that

it the iraqi government makes from steak and not. empowering to a certain degree there that the sunnis in intel often elsewhere in iraq we could see a repetition. i it pops in a different form a new mutation of the islamic state group but nevertheless something clearly linked to it undead tele fat does have a strategic significance as well doesn't it. each it's immensely important area what what one of the reasons is a lot of. nervous about this is that one of the mai. elements of the iraqi forces moment gathering outside telethon is a hostile shabby or the popular mobilization forces. shia or organization box and trained financed by ira. at the field will be that if they take control of fire of tough not only will it be. sectarian violence against sunnis bergeron will establish what it's been trying to do for some time now another link in its quarrel between iran. syria lebanon and there and then submit the mediterranean handsome little nerves on the part of the turks amongst all those the turks. and see how often it's been part of

it was an honor to serve alongside so many americans in uniform and to serve alongside so many iraqis who made the ultimate sacrifice as well and of course the civilians who continue to be unsung heroes and of course at its core had the most noble intention of giving people the ability to determine their own destiny. thank you for your support of this book and this important message and i'm happy to take your questions. thank you very much. [applause] members and guests, this is being recorded so if you have a question, please wait for the microphone before you get your question and then we will proceed from there. >> i noticed on the front cover of your book because i just received it and i am very much looking forward to reading it. it's a very important topic right now in so many different ways, so thank you for being here. on the front cover of your book i think you have donald rumsfeld. this might be a simple aspect of it but i remember when the war first began, donald rumsfeld said this war is going to take a very long time and it's going to cost a lot of money. what the media s

in a televised speech, the iraqi prime minister announced the iraqi prime minister announced the start of the ground offensive to reta ke the start of the ground offensive to retake the city. translation: i told them to either surrender or die as we promised before, we promise now, we will continue the liberation process. his five weeks since the iraqi government declared victory in mosul, iraq's second city after a fierce nine—month battle. around 2000 is militants are thought to remain in tal afar. thousands of civilians have fled and are under the cover of darkness for weeks now. it's not known how many remain. translation: if they had caught us, they would've given as a bullet to they would've given as a bullet to the head. thank god we fled. the situation over there as dire. they have no food, water anything to drink. the un has warned that a new wave of displaced civilians fighting intensifying, and if the iraqi troops succeed in liberating tal afar, it will be a severe blow to the is presence in iraq. tens of thousands of anti—racism protesters have ta ken to the streets of

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhood to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops tear down the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes, while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. our troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even if this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. much of northern india is still on high alert after widespread violence which left at least 30 people dead and more than 200 injured. it was sparked by the conviction on rape charges of a popular guru or holy man, gurmeet ram rahim singh. thousands of hi

are the iraqi elections a factor in consideration? brett: i think we have spoken to this, we do not believe the referendum is a good idea. it is ill-timed, not well prepared. there are critical engagements against isis that have to take place with the full cooperation from iraqi security forces and it could have catastrophic consequences, so obviously we are in detailed discussions with iraqi leaders over this and that is one reason why secretary tillerson made important calls over the last few days. a question of timing or the referendum? authoritiesurdish say they want to hold it on september 25, it is something the u.s. government is firmly opposed to. >> when you talk about the numbers left in iraq and syria, how many of the ones that have left the area do you think are dead, versus who fled the region? where do you see the book of them going, more to libya or more to europe? and how do you think one to consider isis kind of defeated in raqqa and iraq, what is the benchmark for that and how do you see the next kind of iteration of

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhood to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops try to erase the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes. while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. translation: the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. our troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between ten and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even if this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. the headlines on bbc news: 6 men and 2 women have been killed in a crash involving a mini—bus and 2 lorries on the m1 near milton keynes. 2 lorry drivers have been arrested. warnings of ‘catastrophic and life—threatening flooding' for

an hour ago now the iraqi army announced victory over i saw in telephonic couple of days ago but pockets of militant resistance and now the main target of the security forces there you can see the columns of smoke in the distance where a battle is raging as for itself there's a long way to go before the city can return to anything like normal many terrorists are still holed up in basements and underground tunnels and reports that deadly surprises around almost every corner. but the islamic states remain you'll find. like that plastered over the bridges and buildings in tied up frog iraq he sent his haven't yet gotten around to covering them up what with being busy fighting a day off to the victory was announced here in thailand fighting still hasn't died down isis hygiene throughout the city and while they didn't hold any geographic areas of the districts in their hiding in basements and buildings and in timers underneath the city waiting to ambush patrolling iraqi soldiers. was. was was welcome to it. well i says has been beaten in tal afar they're made sure to leave behind plenty of su

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhoods to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops tied down the symbols where they can. —— troops tear down the cymbals. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes, while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. 0ur troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even in this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. we are bringing you breaking news here at the bbc. concerning hurricane harvey. now downgraded to a tropical storm fitow. it is being reported from rockport, one of the worst hit town so far we understand that one pe

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhood to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops try to erase the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes. while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. translation: the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. our troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between ten and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even if this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. a look now at our top story: the authorities in texas are warning of catastrophic flooding to come, as hurricane harvey weakens to a tropical storm. rescue efforts are being hampered by strong winds, and hundreds of thousands are without pow

speaking of training, when it comes to iraqi forces, how many equipped s. trained, to this ponent, the numbers are discuss d, i can't that. i can say we have some success in improving the capability 50% of the iraqi military brigades have improved apability to take on defensive operations. the same time, we intend to reacha certain number and intend 0% of what we to. something i can't discuss publicly. isis financing, what do you know about where it gets monfreat this point? historically a chain of revenue school and i think the success with air strikes of decimating isis or reach tanker trucks. sis has other means of gathering finance, kidnapping local som and charging population taxes and all, the to. is involved in an effort disrupt isis ability to gather financials. calls, baltimore, thomas is on the call, independent caller. thomas. caller: thank you for taking my call. now we're talking about a lot of not here today, we're really talking about dollars, are we? lawful ot talking about money, we're talking about currency. wouldn't that be right, sir? ta

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhood to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops try to erase the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes. while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. translation: the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. our troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between ten and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even if this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. much of northern india is still on high alert after widespread violence which left at least thirty people dead and more than 200 injured. it was sparked by the conviction on rape charges of a popular guru or holy man, gurmeet ram rahim singh

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhood to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops try to erase the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes. while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. translation: the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. 0ur troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even if this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. border guards in bangladesh have accused burmese troops of opening fire on rohingya muslims trying to flee rakhine state. the number of rohingya's making the border crossing has increased, as violence flared again in the region to it's wo

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhood to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops try to erase the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes. while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. translation: the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. our troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between ten and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even if this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. our main headlines: the authorities in texas are warning of catastrophic flooding to come as hurricane harvey weakens to a tropical storm. rescue efforts are being hampered by strong winds and hundreds of thousands are without power. king fe

forced on the iraqi government and agreement the. troops there my summer is would know how would not be able to be tried in iraqi courts so they have to make some semblance of some kind of show that they were going to try soldiers and u.s. courts are now even that seems to be being rolled back so very very troubling development i think. meanwhile forty eight russian speaking children are currently stranded at an orphanage in iraq after they were rescued during the battle to liberate the city of mosul from islamic states clearly as being to the shelter to visit the. school system or the police. were doing it for. things worse. but as you saw some of the children do appear to be unsure if their names and how old they are believe they were taken to iraq by their parents who joined islamic state and who are now. dead russia iraq and jordan are working to track down other family members some of the children have been describing the harrowing ordeal as they enjoyed and they are obsessing to listen. to their. families. sleep one is still a

us and iraqi military say as many as 2000 militants are still in the city. the iraqi army is fighting neighbourhood by neighbourhoods to clear the final pockets of resistance. reminders of the terror the group left behind in graffiti, but troops tied down the symbols where they can. the offensive here follows weeks of coalition air strikes, while visiting soldiers in the area, the iraqi defence ministry said victory is close. the enemy is no longer able to face up to our troops. the enemy has completely collapsed. our troops are advancing steadily. god willing, the liberation of tal afar shall be announced soon. between ten and 20,000 civilians are still thought to be in tal afar. even in this battle is swift, it won't be the last. there are still more cities near the syrian border where is is holding out. the headlines on bbc news: six men and two women killed in a lorry crash. two drivers have been arrested. counterterrorism police say a man suspected of deliberately driving at officers outside buckingham palace last night also has a four foot long sword.

has reported that the flow of refugees from the iraqi city of tal afar is only going to get worse all the best sources of aid on the ground to provide help food basic basic increase of refugees and also what can we make of these testimonies all the refugees they say conditions in these counts already a polling place we have very short time you know i mean the coalition should planned this or should have planned this operation long with the iraqi authorities a little bit more. now i live it better but we need also to understand that you know some of these people are getting out of town law far are not happy at all and they will. you know. complain of whatever they see because they be kicked out of their houses and so. but you know better planning is is key and hope for. ok on that note i'm a work after director of the no source think tank in london thank you for your time sir. now the main suspect in thursday's terror attack in barcelona has been shot dead by police in a suburb of the city the man was wearing a fake explosives belt at the time of his death you know it was believed to h

not be able to be tried in iraqi courts so they had to make some semblance of some kind of show that they were going to try soldiers in u.s. courts and now even that seems to be being rolled back a very very troubling development i think. forty eight russian speaking children are currently stranded at an orphanage in iraq after they were rescued during the battle to liberate the city of mosul from islamic state and he's been to the shelter to visit them. good. humor this is going to follow. the leader of the court and move things words. as you saw some of the children do appear to be unsure of their own names and how old they are it's believed they were taken to iraq by their parents who joined islamic state and i appreciate that russia iraq and jordan are working trying other family members some of the children have been describing the hour in the day which they enjoy what you might find some of them upset to listen to. see. and hear that it was time that the. families let. us leave one sigil of the boy don't need mom. up that's one none of us. are going to know solution and was sur

iraqi government forces are meant to move southwards. while in syria arab and kurdish militias also backed by the u. s. will push eastwards. yeah i s. group would then find itself surrounded in the. so you see i should have now caught in between. converging forces must course to regime is all from ben moving. so. crisis days are certainly number but it shot not over yet. and it's not going to be over anytime soon. but we will move against many euphrates river valley. before any of that the steady flow of civilians fleeing the. cern since friday over three thousand have found shelter in a camp outside talla far. twenty thousand more are thought to be stranded in the city. that report from charles icon. now the targets included some of the city's most famous monuments one o. v. barcelona terror suspects has admitted. that a bigger attack using explosives had been planned. full surviving alleged pauses will hold into the dock for the first time on tuesday. defiant bahai course in madrid. the attacks in catalonia last thursday left fifteen p

iraqi army says it's recaptured the key town of tal afar from islamic state will have the details. jubilation however is a start with what the people of talent thought of calling threw up there was no other. nothing to eat. from does a total u. turn on his repeated pledge to quit afghanistan as a new strategy doesn't foresee any plan for withdrawal the locals say no one is safe when the u.s. drones arrive. in the u.s. operation. schoolboy. said they had killed or. lower if you're watching this is the way to international with me bring you today's news and the top stories from the past seven days in fact if you've been watching us in recent days we've got some heartwarming stories for you the five children from southern russia who were stranded in iraq they've now been reunited with their families it's believed those youngsters were taken to iraq by their parents who were killed while fighting for i still. film the children of baghdad often age where they were taken after the liberation of mosul we've also been helping to find their other relatives in russia with some success to now

iraqi soldiers fire rockets at is positions in tal afar. so—called islamic state has held the city in northern iraq since 2014. the battle in alleys, streets, and houses is fierce. iraqi forces say they have now seized about three quarters of the city, breaking through is defences. translation: the units move towards the neighbourhood, which has only about 5% left to retake from islamic state. then we will announce the liberation of this area. what remains is one neighbourhood, the citadel known as the old city of tal afar. sitting on a main road between mosul and the syrian border, the city was once a main supply route for is, and is one of its last remaining strongholds in iraq. tens of thousands of civilians have already fled. food and water in tal afar is running out. in one neighbourhood, soldiers found these vehicles, believed to have been prepared as car bombs by is. translation: while inspecting these liberated areas, we found these storage warehouses and these vehicles. we are continuing our search of the whole area. they also di