Page 2 - aruba-today-20170309
P. 2
A2
UP FRONTThursday 9 March 2017
Kabul: U.S. rejects China’s call to halt
IS gunmen in white lab coats kill 30 in hospital
drills if North Korea stops tests
RAHIM FAIEZ ers who detonated their and his colleagues. Gh-
AMIR SHAH explosives vests once the ulam Azrat, another sur- EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press group was inside the hospi- vivor, said he escaped Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — tal. The two other attackers through a fourth floor win- UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States on Wednes-
Gunmen wearing white lab were shot dead by secu- dow after attackers killed day rejected China’s proposal for a halt to joint U.S.-
coats stormed a military rity forces, the spokesman two of his friends. South Korean military exercises if North Korea suspends
hospital in Afghanistan’s said. A member of the se- IS claimed the attack in a its nuclear and missile activities. It called North Korean
capital on Wednesday, kill- curity forces was killed in statement carried by its leader Kim Jong Un irrational and demanded “positive
ing at least 30 people and the shootout and three Aamaq news agency. action” before the U.S. can take his regime seriously.
wounding dozens in an at- other security officers were An affiliate of the extrem- In Washington, U.S. State Department acting spokes-
tack claimed by the Islamic wounded. Along with the ist group has carried out man Mark Toner said, “At this point we don’t see it as
a viable deal.” A Pentagon spokesman, Cmdr. Gary
Afghans cry after an attack on a military hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 8, Ross, said U.S. activities to defend South Korea “cannot
2017. Gunmen stormed a military hospital in Afghanistan’s capital on Wednesday, killing at least be equated to North Korea’s repeated violations of its
30 people and wounding more than 60, setting off clashes with security forces that were still un- obligations and agreements.”
derway hours later. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Hal-
ey, told reporters after an emergency Security Council
(AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) meeting on North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch-
es that the United States must see “some sort of posi-
State group. suicide vests, the attackers a number of attacks in Af- tive action” by Kim’s regime before discussing ways to
The attack on the 400-bed also had AK-47 rifles and reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
military facility, located hand grenades, Waziri said. ghanistan in the last two “They’ve given us enough reason to think how irrespon-
near two civilian hospitals Obaidullah Barekzai, a sible that they are that we ever try and think that we’re
in Kabul’s heavily-guarded lawmaker from southern years, and has clashed dealing with a rational person on this,” she said.
diplomatic quarter, set off Uruzgan province, said Earlier Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
clashes with security forces Wednesday’s attack by with the more powerful proposed the freeze-for-freeze, likening escalating ten-
that lasted several hours. the Islamic State group and sions between the North and Washington and Seoul to
The brazen assault reflect- other similar assaults, espe- and well-established Tal- “two accelerating trains, coming toward each other
ed the capability of mili- cially in the capital, are with neither side willing to give way.”
tant groups in Afghanistan very concerning. iban, who carried out an- The idea was rejected by South Korea and Japan as
to stage large-scale and “This is not the first attack well as the U.S. Haley said the military drills are espe-
complex attacks in the by the Islamic States group, other complex attack in cially needed now after North Korea conducted two
heart of Kabul, underscor- they have carried out sev- nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile launches last year
ing the challenges the gov- eral bloody attacks in Ka- Kabul last week. and two sets of missile launches and the assassination
ernment continues to face bul,” he said. of Kim Jong Un’s estranged brother using a chemical
to improve security for ordi- The assault lasted for sev- Mohammad Nahim, a res- weapon this year. She also defended the upcoming
nary Afghans. eral hours, with Afghan he- deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Ko-
Gen. Dawlat Waziri, a De- licopters circling over the taurant worker in Kabul, rea, a move that has been strongly opposed by China.
fense Ministry spokesman, hospital building, troops She said America would not leave its ally facing the
said there were “more than rappelling onto rooftops said he worries that IS mili- threat from North Korea without help.
30 killed and more than 50 and security forces going “We have not seen any goodwill at all coming from
wounded” in the attack. floor-by-floor in a gunbattle tants are getting stronger. North Korea,” Haley said. “I appreciate all my coun-
Afghan forces battled the with the attackers. By mid- terparts wanting to talk about talks and negotiations,
attackers floor by floor, he afternoon, the attack was “Daesh has no mercy on (but) we are not dealing with a rational person.”
added. The ministry said over and a clean-up op- With any other country, the United States would be
the attackers were dressed eration was underway. the humanity,” he added, seeking negotiations, she said.
like health workers. Abdul Qadir, a hospital “This is not a rational person, who has not had rational
According to Waziri, four worker who witnessed the using an Arabic name for acts, who is not thinking clearly,” Haley said of North Ko-
gunmen were involved, in- attack, said an attacker in rea’s leader. “This is someone who is trying to get atten-
cluding two suicide bomb- a white coat shot at him the group. Afghan security tion. This is someone who is trying to get a reaction.”
Haley said the United States is re-evaluating how it is
forces have struggled to going to deal with North Korea going forward “and we
are making those decisions now and will act accord-
combat both groups since ingly.”
“We’re not ruling anything out and we’re considering
the U.S. and NATO formally every option that’s on the table,” she said.
South Korean Ambassador Cho Tae-yul also rejected
concluded their combat the idea of a North Korean nuclear freeze in exchange
for halting U.S.-South Korea military exercises, which he
mission at the end of 2014, stressed are defensive in nature.
“Linking this exercise to anything else, which is illegal
switching to an advisory nuclear and missile provocation by North Korea, is in-
appropriate and unacceptable, and I think this is just
and counterterrorism role. trying to link the unlinkable,” he said.
“All kinds of options have been exhausted so far,” Cho
Afghan President Ashraf said, “So the only available means to change the North
Korean behavior fundamentally is to continue to keep
Ghani condemned up the pressure and sanctions on North Korea.”
Japan’s U.N. ambassador, Koro Bessho, said that “at
Wednesday’s attack dur- the starting point we need some assurances they are
serious about the denuclearization.”q
ing an address in honor
of International Women’s
Day, calling it “an attack
on all Afghan people and
all Afghan women.”q
