Page 2 - ATD20Febr2016

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UP FRONTSaturday 20 February 2016
Pentagon:
US bombed IS training camp in Libya
ROBERT BURNS
MAGGIE MICHAEL
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amer-
ican F-15E fighter-bomb-
ers struck an Islamic State
training camp in rural Libya
near the Tunisian border
Friday, killing dozens, prob-
ably including an IS opera-
tive considered responsible
for deadly attacks in Tunisia
last year, U.S. and local of-
ficials said. The strike did
This picture released online Friday, Feb. 19, 2016, shows the site where U.S. warplanes struck an
Islamic State training camp in Sabratha, Libya near the Tunisian border. A Tunisian described as
a key extremist operative probably was killed, the Pentagon announced. In Libya, local officials
estimated that more than 40 people were killed with more wounded, some critically.
not appear to mark the be-
ginning of a sustained U.S.
campaign in Libya but a
Pentagon spokesman said
“it may not be the last.”
The spokesman, Peter
Cook, said the U.S. is deter-
mined to stop the Islamic
State from “gaining trac-
tion” in Libya. Cook said
the training camp was
“relatively new,” and that
the U.S. has identified simi- State efforts in Libya once
lar Islamic State training
camps elsewhere in Libya,
suggesting potential future
strikes in defense of region-
al and U.S. national security
interests.
In Libya, local officials es-
timated that Friday’s U.S.
attack killed more than 40
people with more wound-
ed, some critically. Up to 60
people were believed to
be at the camp, said a U.S.
official, speaking on condi-
tion of anonymity to discuss
intelligence-related infor-
mation.
Political chaos in Libya
has allowed the Islamic
State to expand across
the northern coast of the
oil-rich North African coun-
try, which is just across the
Mediterranean from Italy
and has also become a
major conduit for African
migrants heading to Eu-
rope. IS controls the central
city of Sirte and a number
of oil installations. Adding
to the concern in Washing-
ton and Europe is evidence
that the number of Islamic
State fighters in Libya is in- involved.
creasing — now believed
to be about 5,000 — even
as the group’s numbers in
Syria and Iraq are shrinking.
The Obama administration
has said it would approve
of international military
support for counter-Islamic
the country assembles a
unity government. But it
also has vowed to strike
key targets when opportu-
nities arise, such as Friday’s and Chouchane’s removal
attack near the city of Sa-
bratha.
The Libyan parliament is
close to endorsing a new
unity government cabinet,
which could eventually
seek international military
intervention against Islamic
State extremists.
Cook said the U.S. airstrikes
targeted extremist Noured-
In setback, Syrian peace talks
not to resume for next week
BASSEM MROUE
dine Chouchane, a Tuni- Associated Press
sian national. Cook called BEIRUT (AP) — In another setback to international ef-
him “an ISIL senior facilita- forts to resolve Syria’s devastating civil war, peace
tor in Libya associated with talks are not to resume next week in Geneva, a U.N.
the training camp,” using envoy announced as Turkey on Friday intensified
another acronym for the Is- cross-border artillery shelling on areas dominated by
lamic State. Syria’s U.S.-backed, mostly Kurdish militia.
Cook did not confirm that But reinforcing its image as a key force battling the
Chouchane had been Islamic State group on the ground, the predominant-
killed but said “we feel ly Kurdish coalition, known as the Syria Democratic
good” about the effective- Forces, on Friday captured the town of Shaddadeh
ness of the attack, which in the country’s northeast. The town was one of the
other officials said were biggest strongholds of the extremists.
conducted by F-15E strike Meanwhile, Russia called for an urgent Security
Council meeting over the deteriorating border situa-
tion. A statement posted on the Russian foreign min-
istry’s website said it intends to submit a draft council
resolution calling on Turkey to “cease any actions
that undermine Syria’s sovereignty and territorial in-
tegrity.”
(Sabratha Municipal Council via AP) In comments to Swedish newspaper Svenska Dag-
bladet, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mis-
aircraft based in Britain. tura, said the Syria talks won’t resume in Geneva on
Cook said unmanned air- Feb. 25 as he had previously hoped. He said that
craft, or drones, also were he cannot “realistically” get the parties in the Syrian
conflict back to the table by then, “but we intend to
Cook said Tunisian officials do so soon.”
in May 2015 had named Fighting has fighting intensified in Syria over the past
Chouchane as a suspect weeks and a deadline to cease military activities has
in a March 18, 2015, attack not been observed. The United States, Russia and
on the Bardo Museum in Tu- other world powers agreed Feb. 12 on a deal calling
nis in which 22 people died. for the ceasing of hostilities within a week, the deliv-
“He facilitated the move- ery of urgently needed aid to besieged areas of Syria
ment of potential ISIL-affil- and a return to peace talks in Geneva.
iated foreign fighters from De Mistura halted the latest Syria talks on Feb. 3, be-
Tunisia to Libya and on- cause of major differences between the two sides,
ward to other countries,” exacerbated by increased aerial bombings and a
Cook said. wide military offensive by Syrian troops and their al-
“Destruction of the camp lies under the cover of Russian airstrikes.
In an interview published late Thursday on the Swed-
will eliminate an experi- ish daily’s website, he said, “We need real talks about
enced facilitator and is ex- peace, not just talks about talks.”
pected to have an imme- En route to Jordan for talks about Syria and other is-
diate impact on ISIL’s abili- sues, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday he
ty to facilitate its activities in is still hopeful about a ceasefire and peace talks for
Libya, including recruiting Syria, even though Geneva talks will not resume next
new ISIL members, estab- week.
lishing bases in Libya, and Kerry said tough and complex issues remain and
potentially planning exter- there is more work to do to resolve them. He added
nal attacks on U.S. interests that the U.S. wants the process to be sustainable so
in the region,” he added.q that hostilities can be halted.
In recent weeks, Syrian government forces captured
dozens of villages and towns across the country while
the SDF evicted opposition fighters and militants from
areas near the border with Turkey in Aleppo province.
Ankara strongly opposes the SDF, which is composed
mostly of Kurdish fighters and has become one of the
most effective forces on the ground fighting the Is-
lamic State group.
The International Committee of the Red Cross ex-
pressed deep alarm, over the situation Aleppo, say-
ing the intensified fighting there has forced 70,000
people to flee their homes and left many without wa-
ter or electricity.
ICRC said in a statement Friday that two hospitals hit
earlier this week in Aleppo left them out of service.
The clinics had provided thousands of consulta-
tions, surgeries and delivered hundreds of babies per
month.q