Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 28 June 2017
IS counterattacks in retaken parts of Mosul stall Iraq push

nymity in line with regula- defeat in the face of the
tions, the latest counter-at- relentless Iraqi offensive.
tacks began on Sunday by IS released a statement
scores of IS fighters dressed blaming a U.S. airstrike for
as Iraqi Shiite paramilitaries. the destruction.
The following day, he said, The mosque was also huge-
a dozen coalition airstrikes ly symbolic — it was from a
on Mosul’s western-most pulpit there that the Islamic
edge killed about 40 mili- State group’s top leader
tants. The territory that the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in
Islamic State group still July 2014 declared a self-
holds in Mosul has been re- styled “caliphate,” encom-
duced to an area that now passing territories held by IS
amounts to about 2 square in Syria and Iraq.
kilometers (0.8 square Iraqi special forces Lt. Gen.
miles) in the ancient Old Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi
City district. said IS holds “very little” ter-
Front lines were quiet in the ritory inside Mosul at the
Old City on Tuesday as Iraqi present moment, adding
special forces scouted the that he hoped the opera-
terrain. Troops ducked into tion would be concluded
narrow alleyways, through within days.
bright courtyards and up But despite staggering ter-
Federal policemen carry food to the frontline during fighting against Islamic State militants in balconies to reach posi- ritorial losses, IS has man-
the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, Monday, June 26, 2017. Islamic State fighters launched a string of
counterattacks in a western Mosul neighborhood that had recently been declared free of the tions with a view of the now aged to launch a number
militant group, setting off clashes that continued overnight, Iraqi officials said Monday. destroyed al-Nuri Mosque. of counterattacks and in-
(AP Photo/Felipe Dana) IS fighters blew up the 12th surgent assaults inside some
century mosque in the Mosul neighborhoods that
By SUSANNAH GEORGE said Tuesday. The attacks The assaults underscore heart of the Old City last were retaken from IS earlier
Associated Press forced Iraqi forces and the the Sunni extremist group’s week, along with its land- this month.
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Coun- U.S.-led coalition to pull resilience in the city, Iraq’s mark minaret, according The attacks also under-
terattacks by Islamic State some assets away from the second-largest, despite to the U.S.-led coalition score the security threat
militants on the western Old City to again clear the months of heavy fighting and the Iraqi Ministry of De- that IS will likely pose, long
edge of Mosul have stalled Yarmouk and Tanak neigh- with Iraqi forces backed fense — an act of destruc- after the militant group is
Iraqi forces’ push in the Old borhoods, which were de- by U.S. air power. Accord- tion that the authorities in routed from all of Mosul
City, the last IS stronghold in clared liberated of IS in ing to the Iraqi officer, who Baghdad interpreted as and other territory it holds
the battle, an Iraqi officer May. spoke on condition of ano- the militants’ message of in Iraq. q

Saudi demolition of historic Shiite homes stokes violence

By AYA BATRAWY kingdom’s oil-rich east At least six security officers, that “terrorists in al-Awami- ing that activists blamed on
Associated Press coast, adds a new source six Shiite gunmen and a ya... have increased their police.
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- of instability at a time of in- number of civilians have armed violence” since the The sensitive security opera-
ates (AP) — Saudi Arabia is creasing confrontation in been killed in al-Awamiya’s start of the “development tion in al-Awamiya now rests
demolishing centuries-old the Gulf. skirmishes, shootings and project in al-Mosawara.” with newly appointed Inte-
homes in a Shiite town, lev- Tensions between Saudi bombings this year, most Security forces patrol the rior Minister Prince Abdu-
eling a historic district that Arabia and its Shiite-led of them in the weeks since town’s streets in armored laziz bin Saud. The 33-year-
officials say has become a rival Iran have spiked in government contractors vehicles, frequently com- old was installed earlier this
hideout for local militants. recent weeks. Also, Saudi began tearing down the ing under fire from militants. month at the same time
The destruction has sparked Arabia and its allies sev- town’s historical center. The Police say a South Asian that King Salman declared
shootouts in the streets be- ered ties with neighboring old district is known as al- construction worker was his own 31-year-old son,
tween Saudi security forces Qatar, demanding among Mosawara, Arabic for the killed by an improvised ex- Mohammed, as next in line
and Shiite gunmen and other things that it cut off “walled fortress,” named plosive device targeting to the throne. The new inte-
stoked sectarian tensions ties with Iran. for its 400-year-old walls the demolition workers. rior minister’s father, Prince
that resonate around the Bulldozers began demolish- that protected the area Activists say security forces Saud bin Nayef, is the gov-
region. ing al-Awamiya’s historic from raiders. frequently open fire in the ernor of the Eastern Prov-
The violence in the Shiite district on May 10, with Interior Ministry spokesman streets. A two-year-old girl ince, where al-Awamiya is
town of al-Awamiya, which plans to tear down several Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki died when shots were fired located and where most
is centered in the Sunni hundred homes. told The Associated Press at her parents’ car, a shoot- Saudi Shiites live. q