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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 14 January 2020

U.S. troops clear rubble from

Iraq base days after Iran strike

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA of a football stadium. U.S. ation, at least in the short
and ALI ABDUL-HASSAN soldiers inspected portable term. The U.S. said no Amer-
Associated Press housing units destroyed ican soldiers were killed or
AIN AL-ASAD BASE, Iraq and burned by the missile wounded in the Iranian at-
(AP) — U.S. troops cleared attack. tack.
rubble and debris from a The air base in Iraq's west- "There were more than 10
military base housing Amer- ern Anbar province is a large missiles fired and the
ican soldiers in western Iraq sprawling complex about impact hit several areas
on Monday, days after it 180 kilometers (110 miles) along the airfield," said Col.
was struck by a barrage of west of Baghdad shared Myles Caggins, a spokes-
Iranian ballistic missiles in a with the Iraqi military and man for the U.S.-led coali-
major escalation between housing about 1,500 mem- tion fighting Islamic State
the two longtime foes. bers of the U.S. military and militants in Iraq and Syria. A bulldozer clears rubble and debris at Ain al-Asad air base in
The Iranian attack was in the U.S.-led coalition fight- He added that the explo- Anbar, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020.
retaliation for the U.S. drone ing the Islamic State mili- sions created large craters, Associated Press
strike near Baghdad airport tant group. knocked over concrete als. Caggins added that dictator Saddam Hussein,
that killed a top Iranian It was struck by Iranian barriers and destroyed fa- troops received notification and later saw American
commander, Gen. Qassem missiles on Wednesday in cilities that house dozens of the missiles were on their troops stationed there
Soleimani, prompting angry Iran's most direct assault soldiers. way thanks to early warn- amid the fight against the
calls to avenge his slaying. on America since the 1979 One of the missiles hit near ing systems, and troops Islamic State group in Iraq
An Associated Press crew seizing of the U.S. Embassy an airstrip where six drones were moved out of harm's and Syria.
touring the Ain al-Asad in Tehran. were parked, causing no way. He described soldiers President Donald Trump vis-
base Monday saw large The proxy attack raised damage. who lived through the at- ited the sprawling air base
craters in the ground and fears of a wider war in the Although no soldiers were tack as "warriors." in December 2018, making
damaged military trailers as Middle East although both killed, he said several were The Ain al-Asad air base his first presidential visit to
well as forklifts lifting rubble sides have since then in- treated for concussions was first used by American troops in the region.
and loading it onto trucks dicated that neither side from the blast and are be- forces after the 2003 U.S.- Vice President Mike Pence
from a large area the size would seek further retali- ing assessed by profession- led invasion that toppled has also visited the base.q

Al-Shabab extremists kill 3 teachers in Kenya, abduct 1

By TOM ODULA tackers spared the life of craft and other machin-
Associated Press a female nurse due to her ery.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Al- gender, it added. Since December, al-
Shabab extremists killed Al-Shabab is claiming re- Shabab has increased the
three people in an assault sponsibility for the attack in frequency of its attacks
early Monday in eastern a terse statement within its in five Kenyan counties
Kenya, its fifth attack in "latest news" posted Mon- that border Somalia and
thirteen days, police said. day on its official website, that the government has
The militants from neigh- Shahada. named as hotspots for ex-
boring Somalia attacked Al-Shabab has vowed ret- tremism. They are Lamu,
Kamuthe town in Garissa ribution on Kenya for send- Garissa, Wajir, Tana River
county at 2 a.m., setting ing troops to Somalia since and Mandera counties.
fire to a police post and 2011 to fight the militants. Kenya's security forces
destroying a telecommu- The group has carried out have been caught inad- A member of Kenya's security forces walks past a damaged
nication mast, police said numerous attacks on Ke- equately prepared for the police post after an attack by al-Shabab extremists in the
in a report seen by The As- nya, killing hundreds. recent attacks in these settlement of Kamuthe in Garissa county, Kenya Monday,
sociated Press. Earlier this month, the al- counties, said security an- Jan. 13, 2020. Associated Press
Three non-Muslim teachers Qaida-linked group at- alyst and former U.S. Ma-
were killed and a Muslim tacked a military base rine Andrew Franklin, who is based in Somalia, has Kenyan government has
one was abducted, the re- used by Kenyan and U.S. is a longtime resident in waged an increasingly failed to treat this threat
port said. Another teacher forces, killing three Ameri- Kenya. effective eight-year vio- with the seriousness it de-
was wounded. The at- cans and destroying air- The extremist group, which lent campaign and the serves, said Franklin.q