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A10
WORLD NEWSFriday 18 September 2015
Syrian army stages airstrikes on IS-held Raqqa: activists
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian war-
planes carried out a wave
of airstrikes in the Islamic
State-held city of Raqqa,
activists said, in rare attacks people buying necessities
that coincided with a visit
by a U.N. envoy to Damas-
cus on Thursday.
In the country’s south, he-
licopters dropped barrel
bombs that struck a busy
market place, killing at least
17 people. An activist in
Saudi-led coalition pounds Yemen rebels near central city
ADAM SCHRECK
Associated Press
MARIB, Yemen (AP) — The
Saudi-led coalition target-
ing Yemen’s Shiite rebels
pounded the insurgents’
positions Thursday with
heavy artillery fire on the
outskirts of the central city
of Marib, part of their push
to retake the capital, Sa-
naa.
The heavy bombardment
came hours after the reb-
els, known as Houthis, aired
footage on their satellite
television channel purport-
ing to show a Saudi soldier
held as a prisoner of war. A
top al-Qaida leader in Ye-
men meanwhile praised
the campaign against
the Houthis and called
for Islamic rule in the Arab
world’s poorest country.
IS says it’s behind 2 Baghdad suicide blasts that killed 21
SINAN SALAHEDDIN
Associated Press
BAGHDAD (AP) — Two sui-
cide bombers targeted
Iraqi police checkpoints in
commercial areas in cen-
tral Baghdad during rush
hour Thursday, killing at
least 21 people, officials
said.
The Islamic State group
swiftly claimed responsibil-
ity for the blasts.
Both attacks were carried
out by bombers on foot,
wearing explosives-laden
the rebel-held Bosra Sham cal condition. The Britain- northern Syria. They report- have occasionally target-
said the explosives were based Syrian Observatory ed casualties but had no ed the city as well, but Syr-
dropped as the market was for Human Rights put the specific figures. It was not ian government airstrikes
packed with shoppers and death toll at 17. Such dis- immediately clear what typically concentrate on
crepancies are common was hit. opposition-held areas of
for children who go back in the aftermath of large The city is the self-declared the country.
to school this week. bombings. capital of the Islamic State Syrian President Bashar
Speaking on condition Two Syria-based groups group’s self-styled caliph- Assad reiterated in an in-
of anonymity for security as well as the Observa- ate, which includes large terview with Russian media
reasons, he said around tory said earlier Thursday parts of Syria and Iraq. The aired Wednesday that the
24 people were killed and that warplanes carried out region is often targeted by U.S. refuses to coordinate
many others wounded, at least 12 airstrikes across a U.S.-led coalition fighting with his government in the
with many of them in criti- the IS-held city of Raqqa in IS from the air. The Syrians fight against IS.q

Yemeni fighters loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi sit downtown were open for Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Ali
in the back of a pickup truck in the countryside outside Marib, business, and residents said 80 percent of the
Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015. The Saudi-led coalition tar- crowded a market to buy province is controlled by
geting Yemen’s Shiite rebels pounded the insurgents’ positions qat leaves, a mild narcotic pro-Hadi forces, while the
Thursday with heavy artillery fire on the outskirts of the central widely consumed in Ye- Houthis and their allies con-
city of Marib, part of their push to retake the capital, Sanaa. men. trol the rest.
“As you see, there are no Military vehicles used by
(AP Photo/Adam Schreck) clashes, mostly just shelling forces from the United Arab
... from far away,” deputy Emirates, a central mem-
The dull thud of artillery fire Kalashnikov assault rifles, governor Abdul Rab Ali ber of the coalition, made
rumbled across Marib but appeared unperturbed by said Thursday. their way Thursday along
its residents, many carrying the nearby fighting. Shops Marib is the capital of the a two-lane road between
largely desert province of Marib and a sprawling mili-
the same name east of the tary base further east.
capital. Authorities say the The war in Yemen pits the
coalition’s operations in Saudi-led coalition against
the area include targeting Iranian-backed Houthis
Houthi positions near the and troops loyal to for-
Marib dam and the town mer President Ali Abdullah
of Sirwah, about 40 kilome- Saleh. Others opposing
ters (25 miles) west on the the Houthis include south-
road to Sanaa. ern separatists, local and
The provincial capital is tribal militias, Sunni Islamic
controlled by forces loyal militants and troops loyal to
to exiled President Abed Hadi.q

vests, two police officers tion of anonymity because ic State group claimed re- a third of Iraq and neigh-
said. One bomber struck they are not authorized to sponsibility for the attacks, boring Syria in its self-de-
in Baghdad’s Bab al-Sharji talk to reporters. saying it targeted police clared “caliphate.”
area, killing nine civilians Iraq is going through its and Shiite paramilitary forc- Since the emergence of IS
and three police officers worst crisis since the 2011 es. extremists, Baghdad has
there. Forty-five people withdrawal of U.S. troops. The Associated Press could seen near-daily attacks,
were wounded in that ex- The Islamic State group not immediately verify the with roadside bombs, sui-
plosion. controls large swaths of authenticity of the state- cide blasts and assassina-
The second bomber hit in the country’s north and ment, but its language and tions targeting Iraqi forces
al-Wathba Square, killing west after capturing Iraq’s phrasing is consistent with and government officials,
nine people, including four second-largest city of Mo- past IS claims of responsibil- with significant casualties
policemen, and wounding sul and the majority of the ity. among the civilian popula-
31. western Anbar province Following its blitz last year, tion.
Two medical officials con- last year. the IS — which splintered The violence has killed hun-
firmed the casualty figures. In a statement posted on its off from Iraq’s al-Qaida dreds and displaced tens
All officials spoke on condi- Twitter accounts, the Islam- branch — now holds about of thousands of Iraqis. q