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Tuesday 26 sepTember 2017

North Korea crisis: US-backed forces say Russia

US says not pushing for regime change attacked them in east Syria
BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed forces in eastern Syria say
By EDITH M. LEDERER der of our country.” before heading off in a mo- Russia bombed their positions on Monday in a major
Associated Press Hours later, the White torcade, reportedly to re- natural gas field they recently captured from Islamic
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — House pushed back on Ri’s turn home, built on the es- State militants.
North Korea’s top diplo- claim, saying: ‘We have calating rhetoric between The Syrian Democratic Forces said a Russian airstrike
mat said Monday that U.S. not declared war’ on North Kim and Trump. killed one of its fighters and wounded two others in the
President Donald Trump’s Korea. The Trump adminis- “The United States has Conoco gas field, in Deir el-Zour province. Russia’s De-
weekend tweet was a tration, referring to Trump’s great strength and pa- fense Ministry denied the report.
“declaration of war” and tweet, also clarified it is not tience, but if it is forced to SDF fighters captured Conoco field, Syria’s largest,
North Korea has the right to seeking to overthrow North defend itself or its allies, we from IS militants on Saturday.
retaliate by shooting down Korea’s government. will have no choice but to The SDF issued a statement later Monday saying that
U.S. bombers, even in inter- Trump tweeted on Satur- totally destroy North Ko- its forces retaliated by shelling the source of fire and
positions of “hostile forces.”
It was not the first time the SDF has accused Russia
of targeting its forces in oil and gas-rich Deir el-Zour,
where Russian backed Syrian troops are waging a sep-
arate offensive against the extremists. The two sides
are racing to defeat the militants and snap up oil and
gas fields, fueling fears of conflict between the two
groups and their superpower sponsors.
Both the U.S. and Russia have embedded special forc-
es with their respective partners and are supporting
their advances with aggressive air strikes.
The Pentagon accused Russian jets of attacking the
SDF last week. Russia in turn said its forces were target-
ed twice from SDF-held territory.
SDF fighters have been making their way down the
east bank of the Euphrates River in Deir el-Zour, while
Syrian troops are mainly operating on the western
bank. Last week, Syrian troops along with allied Shiite
militias from across the region crossed into parts of the
east bank, where they ran into fierce resistance from IS
militants entrenched there.
“They are losing fighters wholesale,” said Germany-
based Deir el-Zour native Omar Abu Layla, who is mon-
itoring the battles through local contacts.
North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, center, followed by his interpreter, walks to the The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
microphones to speak outside the U.N. Plaza Hotel, in New York, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017. says 72 pro-government fighters have been killed in
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) battle with the jihadists since crossing the Euphrates last
week. At least seven Russian soldiers have been killed,
national airspace. day: “Just heard Foreign rea,” Trump had told world and Russia’s Defense Ministry acknowledged that one
It was the latest escalation Minister of North Korea leaders on Tuesday. of its generals was killed in the area on Sunday.
in a week of undiplomatic speak at U.N. If he echoes “Rocket Man is on a suicide Syria’s largest oil field, the al-Omar, is located on the
exchanges between North thoughts of Little Rocket mission for himself and for eastern side of the river.
Korea and the U.S. dur- Man, they won’t be around his regime.” Elsewhere in Syria, Russian and government warplanes
ing the U.N. General As- much longer!” Trump also Kim responded with the stepped up their airstrikes against rebels as well as al-
sembly’s annual ministerial used the derisive “Rocket first-ever direct statement Qaida-linked insurgents in different areas, straining a
meeting. Man” reference to Kim in from a North Korean leader patchwork of cease-fires and “de-escalation” agree-
Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho his speech to the U.N. Gen- against a U.S. president, ments that had brought relative calm in recent weeks.
told reporters that the Unit- eral Assembly on Sept. 19, lobbing a string of insults at Activists and monitoring groups reported airstrikes in
ed Nations and the inter- but this time he added the Trump. Aleppo, Idlib and Hama provinces, as well as clashes
national community have word “little.” “I will surely and definitely between rebels and pro-government forces in north-
said in recent days that This was not the first time tame the mentally de- ern Syria and on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
they didn’t want “the war North Korea has spoken ranged U. S. dotard with The Observatory said the airstrikes killed 37 in the town
of words” to turn into “real about a declaration of war fire,” he said, choosing the of Jisr al-Shughour and nearby areas in Idlib province.
action.” between the two countries. rarely used word “dotard” The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Hel-
But he said that by tweet- In July 2016, Pyongyang which means an old person mets, which is active in opposition-held areas, said 15
ing that North Korea’s lead- said U.S. sanctions imposed who is weak-minded. people were killed and 30 wounded in Jisr al-Shughour
ership led by Kim Jong Un on Kim were “a declaration “Now that Trump has de- alone, adding that other people were killed in other
“won’t be around much of war” against the Demo- nied the existence of and areas in the province.
longer,” Trump “declared cratic People’s Republic of insulted me and my coun- Two people were killed Monday in shelling on President
the war on our country.” Korea — the country’s offi- try in front of the eyes of Bashar Assad’s ancestral village of Qardaha, state me-
Under the U.N. Charter, Ri cial name — and it made the world and made the dia reported. Syria’s state broadcaster said the village
said, North Korea has the a similar statement after a most ferocious declaration has been shelled by “terrorists” for two days straight. It
right to self-defense and new round of U.N. sanc- of a war in history that he says two people were wounded Sunday.
“every right” to take coun- tions in December. The would destroy the DPRK,” Qardaha is located in the coastal mountains of north-
termeasures, “including the North Korean leader used Kim said, “we will consider west Syria. Assad’s father, the late president Hafez
right to shoot down the Unit- the words again on Friday. with seriousness exercising Assad, was born in Qardaha. He was buried there in
ed States strategic bomb- The foreign minister’s brief of a corresponding, highest 2000. The village has been largely spared from Syria’s
ers even when they’re not statement to a throng of level of hardline counter- civil war, which grew out of demonstrations in 2011
yet inside the airspace bor- reporters outside his hotel measure in history.”q against the Assad family’s four-decade rule.q