Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Friday 11 May 2018

Iraqi forces capture 5 top IS

leaders in cross-border raid

By SUSANNAH GEORGE maintain a grip inside Syria A U.S. national security offi-
and JOSH LEDERMAN along Iraq’s border. cial said there were no indi-
Associated Press The U.S. -led coalition sup- cations that the operation
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi forc- ported Iraqi ground forces had captured Abu Bakr al-
es in coordination with U.S.- and Syrian fighters known Baghdadi, the leader of IS
backed Syrian forces have as the Syrian Democratic who has long been the co-
captured five senior Islamic Forces in the more than alition’s top target. The of-
State group leaders, the three-year war against IS. ficial wasn’t authorized to
U.S.-led coalition said Thurs- After Iraqi forces retook the discuss the targets publicly
day in a statement. Iraqi city of Mosul from IS and requested anonymity.
The arrest was a “significant last summer, Syrian forces Last year the Pentagon
blow to Daesh,” coalition on the other side of the said that there were “some
spokesman Army Col. Ryan border claimed a series of indicators” that al-Baghda-
Dillon said, using the Arabic swift victories, but the cam- di was still alive a month af-
acronym for the extremist paign was stalled recently ter Russia claimed to have
group. when Turkey launched a killed him in a strike near
A Pentagon spokesman, cross-border raid into Syr- the Syrian city of Raqqa.
Marine Maj. Adrian J.T. ia’s north. None of the statements re-
Rankine-Galloway, said Earlier this month the coali- leased Thursday from the
the U.S. credited Iraqi secu- tion announced a drive to president or the coalition
rity forces with the militants’ clear the final pockets of IS named the IS fighters ar- In this June 23, 2014 file photo, fighters from the Islamic State
capture “on the Iraq-Syria territory inside Syria. rested. group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces ar-
border.” U.S. President Donald IS fighters swept into Iraq in mored vehicle on the main road in Mosul, Iraq.
“These arrests are a signifi- Trump tweeted about the the summer of 2014, taking Associated Press
cant blow to ISIS as we con- anti-IS raid Thursday, say- control of nearly a third of
tinue to remove its leader- ing those arrested were the country. At the height
ship and fighters from the the “five most wanted” IS of the group’s power their
battlefield,” Rankine-Gallo- “leaders.” It was unclear self-proclaimed caliphate
way said. what criteria, if any, Trump stretched from the edges
IS fighters no longer con- was using to describe the IS of Aleppo in Syria to just
trol significant pockets of operatives as the “five most north of the Iraqi capital
territory inside Iraq, but do wanted.” Baghdad.q

At least 44 killed as dam bursts

in Kenya, officials say

By TOM ODULA seasonal rains burst in Ke- ing from a severe drought
Associated Press nya’s Rift Valley, sweeping that affected half of the
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Vil- away hundreds of homes country. Almost an entire
lagers said it started with a and sending people flee- village was swept away
loud rumble, then houses ing, officials said. At least 20 by silt and water from the
collapsed one by one un- of the dead were children. burst dam, said Gideon Ki-
der an approaching wall “Many people are missing. bunja, the county police
of water. “We took our chil- It is a disaster,” said Rongai chief in charge of crimi-
dren and rushed to higher town police chief Joseph nal investigations. Officials
ground,” farmer Joseph Kioko. The bursting of the said homes over a radius
Maina told The Associated Patel Dam in Solai, Nakuru of nearly 2 kilometers (1.2
Press. Their home was sub- County, on Wednesday miles) were submerged.
merged and their crops night was the deadliest sin- Forty people have been
were washed away but un- gle incident yet in the sea- reported missing, Regional
like dozens of others, they sonal rains that have killed Commissioner Mwongo
survived. At least 44 were more than 170 people in Chimwanga said, while
dead and another 40 were Kenya since March. The about 40 others were res-
missing Thursday after a floods hit as the East Afri- cued from the mud and
dam swollen by weeks of can nation was recover- taken to local hospitals.q