Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 21 June 2017
Syria troops positioned at heart of war on IS Jordan court told of heavy

fire in killing of 3 US troops
By SARAH EL DEEB shows that pro-Assad Syria.
Associated Press troops have placed them- Having largely succeeded By REEM SAAD between the outer and
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian gov- selves in key locations in in neutralizing most of his Associated Press inner gate when Jorda-
ernment troops and their the anti-IS battle, while rebel opponents, Assad’s AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A nian gate guards said they
allies have steadily posi- staying close to the U.S.- forces, with the help of crime scene investigator heard a low sound, possibly
tioned themselves in key backed Kurdish forces who Iranian-sponsored Leba- told a military court Tues- a pistol shot, from the direc-
areas on the flanks of the lead the ground offensive. nese and Iraqi militias be- day that three U.S. military tion of the convoy.
U.S.-led coalition battle for The Syrian government gan an elaborate military trainers killed at the gate of At the time, the defendant
a Jordanian air base had was in the guard house,
come under heavy fire, in- close to the inner barrier, to
cluding from inside a near- recharge the battery of his
by guard house. wireless device, witnesses
The investigator testified in have said.
the murder trial of a Jorda- The crime scene investi-
nian soldier who has been gator said Tuesday that
accused of killing three U.S. multiple rounds were fired
Army Green Berets at the from two M-16 assault rifles,
entrance to the base in No- including from inside the
vember. guard house where car-
The defendant, 1st Sgt. tridges were later found.
Marik al-Tuwayha, stood The vehicle closest to the
silently in a cage in the inner barrier, with McEn-
courtroom Tuesday, as he roe behind the wheel and
had done during two pre- Lewellen in the passenger
vious days of testimony this seat, was just a few feet
week. The fathers of two from the guard house.
of the slain Americans sat Moriarty’s father, James,
just meters away from him, who repeatedly watched
following the proceedings a security camera video
through a translator. of the shooting at an FBI
Al-Tuwayha has pleaded office in the U.S., said the
In this photo taken on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, a volunteer fighter with the Syrian Government “not guilty” and the judge defendant fired from inside
forces sits atop a tank in the province of Raqqa, Syria. Syrian government and allied troops have has said the defendant has the guard house at that ve-
inserted themselves into the battle against Islamic State militants by capturing key areas on the no apparent ties to terrorist hicle, killing McEnroe and
flanks of the coalition-led battle to seize Raqqa. They have positioned themselves as indispens- groups. Lewellen.
able possibly spoilers in the fight to uproot the militants from Syria.
(Alexander Kots/Komsomolskaya Pravda via AP) Jordan is a U.S. ally in the Moriarty has said the video
region, including in the also showed his son and a
the Islamic State’s self-de- forces and their allies have campaign. It was a multi- campaign against Islamic surviving U.S. soldier jump-
clared capital of Raqqa. placed themselves south pronged thrust, choking IS State extremists who con- ing out of the two vehicles
They are attempting to of Raqqa and on the out- supply and escape routes trol areas of neighboring behind the lead car, tak-
become an indispensable skirts of Deir el-Zour, the IS and encircling coalition Syria and Iraq. ing cover behind large ce-
player in uprooting the ex- militants’ last refuge. forces. The deadly Nov. 4 shooting ment blocks and returning
tremists from Syria entirely. While government troops With Russia’s backing, they at the al-Jafr air base ap- fire while shouting at the
That presents a major chal- may be far from in con- sprang out in the desert peared to strain those ties shooter to halt fire. Witness-
lenge for the coalition, trol of that area and are of Palmyra, eyeing the at one point. Jordanian of- es have said the firefight
which so far has shunned unlikely to go after the town of Sukhna, the last IS ficials initially claimed the lasted several minutes.
any cooperation with Presi- city of Raqqa, Syria expert stronghold in central Syria. U.S. soldiers triggered the A total of 78 bullets were
dent Bashar Assad and has Sam Heller of the Century Taking Sukhna would cut shooting by disobeying or- fired from the M-16 rifles,
partnered instead with lo- Foundation said the forc- the militants’ supply line to ders of Jordanian troops said Moriarty and a de-
cal Kurdish-led forces. es “have done enough the border with Iraq. guarding the gate of the fense lawyer, citing the in-
As the U.S. has intensified to insert themselves that Almost simultaneously, air base. Jordan later with- vestigator’s testimony. They
its fight against IS in Syria, they’re now a fact on the they advanced south and drew this claim and King said 19 bullets were fired
Assad and his trusted allies ground.” east of Aleppo all the way Abdullah II cleared the sol- from pistols used by the U.S.
of Russia and Iran are in- The aim is “to ensure that to Raqqa province, where diers of any wrongdoing in troops.
creasingly asserting them- they can’t easily be ex- the coalition is backing a letter to the parents. The investigator said each
selves. A Syrian military of- cluded, and that they re- the mostly Kurdish force The victims were 27-year- of the three vehicles car-
fensive has unfolded on main on track to ultimately against IS. The battle for old Staff Sgt. Matthew C. rying Americans was hit by
several fronts, coupled retake the entirety of the Rasafa, a key town south- Lewellen of Kirksville, Mis- gunfire.Moriarty, a 70-year-
with Russian airstrikes and country,” Heller said. west of the city of Raqqa, souri; 30-year-old Staff Sgt. old trial lawyer from Hous-
a show of force by Iran, The United States, he add- triggered clashes with the Kevin J. McEnroe of Tucson, ton, said the large number
which fired ballistic mis- ed, “is dealing with it de- Kurdish forces and led to Arizona; and 27-year-old of shots fired from the M-16s
siles on an IS stronghold this fensively and reactively. I the downing of a Syrian Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty suggests that the assailant
week and pushed militias don’t think there’s any real fighter jet by a U.S. war- of Kerrville, Texas. “had to reload again and
that it sponsors deeper into sense of what to do, be- plane. Witnesses have said that again and again.”
the battlefield. yond defending U.S. troops For the first time in two years, a four-car convoy ap- Three Jordanian gate
Damascus and its allies and partner forces.” Syrian troops reached the proached the entrance of guards testified Monday
have long argued that The government push border with Iraq, establish- the base sometime before that they held their fire af-
they are the essential part- against IS began after a ing a link with Iraqi forces noon on Nov. 4. ter hearing the apparent
ner to any international ef- cease-fire deal brokered that were advancing on The first vehicle passed pistol shot that ostensibly
fort in Syria, portraying all in May by Russia and Iran their side, and outflanking through an outer and an in- triggered the violent events
opposition forces as terror- that designated four “de- U.S. troops and allied reb- ner gate, entering the base because they couldn’t
ist groups. escalation zones” in north- els in Tanf, near the border safely. Three more vehicles identify the exact source of
A close look at the map ern, central and southern with Jordan. q carrying U.S. troops stood the sound. q