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UP FRONTSaturday 29 April 2017
Turkey arrests American, Briton entering from Syria Seoul: North Korea
ZEYNEP BILGINSOY
Associated Press
ISTANBUL (AP) — An Ameri-
can and a British man, al-
legedly members of the Is-
lamic State group, were ar-
rested in Turkey after cross-
ing the border from Syr-
ia and handing themselves
over to the authorities, of-
ficials said Friday.
A Turkish official, who spoke
on condition of anonym-
ity in line with government
protocol, said American
Kary Paul Kleman and Brit-
on Stefan Aristidou arrived
at Oncupinar border cross-
ing in Kilis province on April
20 and were arrested four
days later.
Kleman was traveling with
his Syrian wife and four chil-
dren.
His family was put under
administrative detention
to be deported to the U.S.
in order to keep them to-
gether, according to the
official.
A British Foreign Office of-
ficial said British authorities
are in contact with Turkish
authorities “following the
Report: US troops deploy along Syria-Turkish border was believed to be a fail-
SARAH EL DEEB
BOB BURNS
Associated Press
BEIRUT (AP) — U.S. armored
vehicles are deploying
in areas in northern Syr-
ia along the tense border
with Turkey, a few days
after a Turkish airstrike that
killed 20 U.S.-backed Kurd-
ish fighters, a Syrian war
monitor and Kurdish activ-
ists said Friday.
Footage posted by Syrian
activists online showed a
convoy of U.S. armored
vehicles driving on a rural
road in the village of Dar-
basiyah, a few hundred
meters from the Turkish bor-
der. Clashes in the area
were reported between
Turkish and Kurdish forces
Wednesday a day after
the Turkish airstrike which
also destroyed a Kurdish
command headquarters.
The Turkish airstrikes, which
also wounded 18 members
of the U.S.-backed Peo-
ple’s Protection Units, or
YPG, in Syria were criticized
by both the U.S. and Rus-
sia. The YPG is a close U.S.
This 2016 photo shows a view of the Turkish border crossing with Syria, on the outskirts of the town
of Kilis, in southeastern Turkey. An American and a British man, allegedly members of the Islamic
State group, were arrested in Turkey after crossing the border from Syria and handing themselves
over to the authorities, officials said Friday, April 28, 2017.
detention of a British man
on the Turkey/Syria bor-
der.” Aristidou’s British wife day that the men were de-
and child would be deport-
ed to the U.K., according
to the Turkish official.
ally in the fight against the
Islamic State group but is
seen by Ankara as a terror-
ist group because of its ties
to Turkey’s Kurdish rebels.
Further clashes between
Turkish and Kurdish forces
in Syria could potentially
undermine the U.S.-led war
on the Islamic State group.
A senior Kurdish official, Il- Pentagon spokesman, did
ham Ahmad told The Asso-
ciated Press that American
forces began carrying out
patrols along the border
Thursday along with re-
connaissance flights in the
area. She said the deploy-
ment was in principle tem-
porary, but may become
more permanent.
A Kurdish activist in the
area, Mustafa Bali, said
the deployment is ongo-
ing, adding that it stretches
from the Iraqi border to ar-
eas past Darbasiyah in the
largely Kurdish part of east-
ern Syria.
“The U.S. role has now be-
come more like a buffer
force between us and the
Turks on all front lines,” he
said. He said U.S. forces will facto capital, Raqqa, “and
Turkey’s official Anadolu
news agency reported Fri-
tained and later arrested
on suspicion that they are
members of the extremist
also deploy as a separation
force in areas where the
Turkish-backed Syrian fight- rahman, director of the Brit-
ing forces and the Kurdish
forces meet.
It is a message of reassur-
ance for the Kurds and al-
most a “warning message”
to the Turks, he said.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a
not dispute that U.S. troops in Syria’s conflict toward
are operating with ele-
ments of the Syrian Demo-
cratic Forces (SDF) along
the Turkish border, but he
would not get into specif-
ics. The SDF is a Kurdish-
dominated alliance fight-
ing IS that includes Arab
fighters.
“We have U.S. forces that
are there throughout the
entirety of northern Syr-
ia that operate with our
Syrian Democratic Force
partners,” Davis said. “The
border is among the areas
where they operate.” He
said the U.S. wants the SDF
to focus on liberating the
IS-held town of Tabqa and
the extremist group’s de
fails in missile test
fire near its capital
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)
— North Korea test-fired a
mid-range ballistic missile
(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) from the western part of its
country Saturday, but the
Islamic State group. launch apparently failed,
Anadolu said two Egyp- South Korea and the Unit-
tians and four more chil- ed States said Saturday.
dren were also traveling The test will be condemned
with the group and will be by outsiders as yet another
deported. q step in the North’s push
for a nuclear-tipped mis-
sile that can strike the U.S.
mainland. South Korea’s
Joint Chiefs of Staff said in
a statement that the North
fired the unidentified mis-
sile from around Pukchang,
which is near the capital
Pyongyang, but provided
no other details.
A U.S. official, speaking on
condition of anonymity to
discuss sensitive matters,
said the missile was likely a
medium-range KN-17 bal-
listic missile. It broke up a
couple minutes after the
launch and the pieces fell
into the Sea of Japan.
A South Korean military offi-
cial also said without elab-
orating that the launch
ure. He didn’t want to be
not be drawn into conflicts named, citing office rules.
elsewhere.” Rami Abdur- The official couldn’t imme-
diately confirm how far the
ain-based Syrian Observa- missile flew or whether it
tory for Human Rights, said had exploded shortly after
the deployment seems lim- launch.
ited and is aimed to “pre- North Korea routinely test-
vent fighting” between the fires a variety of ballistic
two sides. The U.S. has re- missiles, despite United Na-
cently shifted from working tions prohibitions, as part of
quietly behind the scenes its weapons development.
While shorter-range mis-
overt displays of U.S. force siles are somewhat routine,
in an attempt to shape the there is strong outside worry
fight. Last month, about about each longer-range
200 Marines rolled into North Korean ballistic test.
northern Syria backed with Saturday’s launch comes
howitzers, significantly wid- at a point of particularly
ening America’s footprint high tension. U.S. Presi-
in a highly toxic battlefield. dent Donald Trump took
The Marines’ deployment an initial hard line with
came days after another in- Pyongyang and sent a U.S.
tervention, when dozens of aircraft supercarrier to Ko-
army troops drove outside rean waters. His diplomats
the town of Manbij, riding are now taking a softer
Stryker armored vehicles, tone.
following an earlier confla- On Friday, the United States
gration of fighting between and China offered starkly
Syrian Kurdish troops and different strategies for ad-
Turkish troops. The U.S. de- dressing North Korea’s es-
ployment in Manbij inten- calating nuclear threat as
tionally put Americans in Trump’s top diplomat de-
the middle of that rivalry, manded full enforcement
hoping to cool it down. q of economic sanctions
on Pyongyang and urged
new penalties.q