Page 10 - aruba-today-20191019

A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 19 OctOber 2019
Officials: Blast at Afghan mosque kills 62 during prayers

RAHIM FAIEZ more attention to protect-
Associated Press ing the civilian population,
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) including through a review
— An explosion rocked of conduct during combat
a mosque in eastern Af- operations," said Tadamichi
ghanistan as dozens of Yamamoto, the U.N. secre-
people gathered for Friday tary-general's special rep-
prayers, causing the roof resentative for Afghanistan.
to collapse and killing 62 The report said that pro-
worshippers, provincial of- government forces caused
ficials said. The attack un- 2,348 civilian casualties,
derscored the record-high including 1,149 killed and
number of civilians dying in 1,199 wounded, a 26% in-
the country's 18-year war. crease from the same pe-
Attahullah Khogyani, riod in 2018.
spokesman for the gover- The report said 2,563 civil-
nor of Nangarhar Province, ians were killed and 5,676
said the militant attack were wounded in the first
wounded 36 others. He nine months of this year. In-
said it was not immediately surgents were responsible
clear if the mosque was at- for 62%. July to September
tacked by a suicide bomb- were the deadliest months
er or by some other type of so far this year.
bombing. A wounded man is brought by stretcher into a hospital after a mortar was fired by insurgents in Efforts to restart talks to
Sediq Sediqqi, spokes- Haskamena district of Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. end Afghanistan's 18-year
man for Afghan President Associated Press war picked up earlier this
Ashraf Ghani, strongly con- eastern Afghanistan, espe- The spokesman for U.N. get used to or learn to ig- month, just weeks after
demned the attack on his cially Nangarhar province. Secretary-General Anto- nore," he said. President Donald Trump last
official Twitter account. However, Zabihullah Mu- nio Guterres said Guterres The violence comes a day month declared the talks
"The Afghan government jahid, the Taliban's spokes- "strongly" condemned the after a United Nations re- "dead," blaming a surge
strongly condemns today's man in a statement con- attack and said those re- port said that Afghan ci- in violence by the Taliban
suicide attack in a mosque demned the attack in Nan- sponsible must be held ac- vilians are dying in record that included the killing of
in Nangarhar province," he garhar and called it a seri- countable. numbers in the country's a U.S. soldier.
tweeted. ous crime. Amnesty International's increasingly brutal war, not- U.S. peace envoy Zalmay
"The Taliban and their part- Zahir Adil, spokesman for deputy South Asia director, ing that more civilians died Khalilzad visited Pakistan
ners heinous crimes contin- the public health depart- Omar Waraich, said the at- in July than in any previous and met with the Taliban's
ue to target civilians in time ment in Nangarhar Prov- tack "demands the world's one-month period since top negotiator, Mullah Ab-
of worship," he added. ince, said 23 of the wound- attention." the U.N. began keeping dul Ghani Baradar. Bara-
No one immediately ed were transferred to "Flagrant violations of in- statistics. dar is a co-founder of the
claimed responsibility for Jalalabad, the provincial ternational humanitarian "Civilian casualties at re- hard-line Islamic move-
the attack, but both the capital, and the rest were law such as deliberate tar- cord-high levels clearly ment and was head of a
Taliban and the Islamic being treated in the Haska- geting of civilians are not show the need for all parties Taliban delegation to the
State group are active in mena district clinic. something anyone should concerned to pay much Pakistani capital.q

Fighting in Kurdish-held Syrian town despite cease-fire

By MEHMET GUZEL the Turkish offensive against much — but not all — of
Associated Press Kurdish-led forces in the re- a swath of territory that
CEYLANPINAR, Turkey (AP) gion. AP journalists also re- stretches about 100 kilo-
— Associated Press journal- ported quiet in the town of meters (60 miles) along the
ists witnessed continued Tal Abyad. middle of the Syrian-Turkish
fighting Friday morning in The agreement — reached border, between Ras al-
a northeast Syrian town at after hours of negotiations Ayn and Tal Abyad.
the center of the fight be- in Turkey's capital of An- But Kurdish forces are still
tween Turkey and Kurdish kara between Turkish Presi- entrenched in Ras al-Ayn,
forces, despite a U.S.-bro- dent Recep Tayyip Erdo- where they were fiercely
kered cease-fire that went gan and U.S. Vice President battling Turkish-backed Syr-
into effect hours earlier. Mike Pence — requires the ian fighters trying to take
Shelling and billowing Kurdish fighters to vacate the town Thursday. Wheth-
smoke could be seen a swath of territory in Syria er the Kurdish fighters pull
around Ras al-Ayn accom- along the Turkish border. out of Ras al-Ayn will likely
panied by the sound of That largely solidifies the In this photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between be an early test of the ac-
gunfire. The Syrian Obser- position Turkey has reached Turkey and Syria, in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, southeastern cord.
vatory for Human Rights, a in its offensive, now in its Turkey, flames and smoke billow from a fire on a target in Ras al- Turkish troops and their
war monitor, reported inter- tenth day. The fighting Fri- Ayn, Syria, caused by shelling by Turkish forces, Thursday, Oct. allied Syrian fighters
mittent clashes in the Ras day came even after the 17, 2019. launched the offensive two
al-Ayn but relative calm commander of Kurdish-led Associated Press days after U.S. President
elsewhere since Thursday forces in Syria, Mazloum success of the cease-fire people would refuse to live Donald Trump suddenly an-
night. That's when Turkey Abdi, told Kurdish TV late agreement." But one Kurd- under Turkish occupation. nounced he was withdraw-
and the U.S. agreed to a on Thursday: "We will do ish official, Razan Hiddo, Kurdish fighters have al- ing American troops from
five-day cease-fire to halt whatever we can for the declared that the Kurdish ready been driven out of the border area. q