Page 10 - Aruba Today
P. 10
A10
WORLD NEWSFriday 29 January 2016
Top US general warns Mosul Dam could collapse Yemen suicide
Iraqi soldiers participate in a training exercise with American and Spanish trainers at Basmaya have at times struggled to bomber is said
base, 40 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. The top U.S. general in Iraq warned Thursday of gain access to the site. IS
the potential collapse of Mosul Dam in the country’s north, saying such an event could prove seized the dam in July of to be Dutch IS
“catastrophic.” that year, but Iraqi forces
and Kurdish fighters, with AHMED AL-HAJ
(AP Photo/Karim Kadim) coalition air support, took it Associated Press
back within weeks. SANAA, Yemen (AP) —
SUSANNAH GEORGE determining the likelihood are easily dissolved by Situated on the Tigris River, The Islamic State affiliate
BALINT SZLANKO the hydroelectric dam water. A report in 2006 by the dam is the largest in in Yemen has claimed re-
Associated Press could collapse but has de- the U.S. Army Corps of En- Iraq and the fourth-larg- sponsibility for a suicide
BAGHDAD (AP) — The top veloped a contingency gineers called it “the most est in the Middle East. It bombing on Thursday that
U.S. general in Iraq warned plan alongside the Iraqi dangerous dam in the once supplied electricity killed seven people and
Thursday of the potential government, said U.S. Army world” because of its pro- and water to much of the targeted the presidential
collapse of Mosul Dam in Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland. pensity to erode. country, but now only op- palace in Aden, where the
the country’s north, saying Built in the early 1980s, the Since the Islamic State erates at partial capacity. internationally-recognized
such an event could prove dam is made largely of group extended its terri- The coalition and Iraqi president and his cabinet
“catastrophic.” earth and situated on soft tory across Iraq in summer forces have drafted plans are based.
The U.S.-led coalition is still mineral foundations, which 2014, maintenance teams to move civilians to safety In an online statement
should the dam collapse, posted on Twitter by the
MacFarland said, warning group’s supporters, IS iden-
that “when it goes, it’s go- tified the attacker as Abu
ing to go fast, and that’s Hanifa al-Hollandi, an Ara-
bad.” bic nom de guerre that
Speaking to The Associat- suggests he was Dutch.
ed Press by phone, Riyadh The last name in militants’
Izeddin, the director gener- pseudonyms usually indi-
al of the dam, said he had cates their nationality or
not been informed by the place of origin. His real
U.S. about any such contin- name was not immediate-
gency plan. ly known.
“The Americans didn’t It was not possible to verify
tell us anything,” he said, the claim. The group post-
countering the coalition’s ed pictures that appeared
assessment that the struc- to show the car bomb
ture is in serious danger. speeding toward cement
“There is nothing to be barricades manned by
afraid of. There is nothing presidential guards.
seriously wrong with the Earlier on Thursday, three
dam,” Izeddin said.q Al-Jazeera journalists who
were kidnapped in the
Fighting in Egypt’s restive north Sinai kills 4 children war-ravaged Yemeni city
of Taiz were released, the
ASHRAF SWEILAM ied under rubble when responsibility for the road- ous IS claims. news network said in a
Associated Press buildings were hit and col- side bombing of an army Egyptian security and statement. Journalists have
CAIRO (AP) — Fighting be- lapsed. The fighting took convoy in northern Sinai on health officials had said been frequently targeted
tween army troops and place close to the border Wednesday that killed at the attack, just south of during Yemen’s conflict,
extremist militants in the with the Palestinian Gaza least four soldiers. the coastal city of el-Arish, which pits southern Shiite
restive northeastern part Strip. In a statement distributed killed an army colonel and rebels, known as Houthis,
of the Sinai Peninsula killed Egypt has been hit with a by IS sympathizers on social three soldiers and wound- against government forces
four children and wounded wave of suicide bombings media, the militant group ed another 12 soldiers, sev- backed by a Saudi-led mil-
eight other minors on Thurs- and militant attacks that in- said that it had killed and eral of whom were in a criti- itary campaign.
day, Egyptian medical offi- tensified after the military’s wounded more than 20 cal condition. The Houthis seized control
cials said. ouster of Islamist President soldiers, including senior of- The officials spoke on con- of the Yemeni capital, San-
The Rafah hospital said in a Mohammed Morsi in 2013. ficers, during the attack. dition of anonymity be- aa, in September 2014 and
statement that the children The local Islamic State af- The Associated Press could cause they were not au- in November that year the
were killed and wounded filiate has claimed responsi- not independently verify thorized to speak to the president fled to Aden.
during clashes using heavy bility for most of the attacks. the claim, but its design media. q The bombing took place
weapons, with some bur- Earlier Thursday, IS claimed and logo resembled previ- around one kilometer
away from his palace,
which is heavily guarded
by Emirati and Saudi spe-
cial forces, officials said. q
