Page 8 - atoday

A8
world NEWSTuesday 13 October 2015
Syria troops advance under Russian air cover AP: EU criticizes
ALBERT AJI
SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) —
Russian jets intensified their
airstrikes Monday in cen-
tral Syria as government
forces battled insurgents
in a strategic area near a
rebel-held province and a
government stronghold.
The government push is the
latest in a bid to regain the
Sahl al-Ghab plain, which is
adjacent to Latakia prov-
ince, a stronghold of Presi-
dent Bashar Assad and the
Alawite religious minority to
which he belongs.
After a heavy barrage of
Russian airstrikes, the fight-
ing was focused on the
village of Kfar Nabudeh,
which officials said had
been seized by government
troops. Activists said Syrian
rebels repelled the attack.
Capturing Kfar Nabudeh
would cut off a major high-
way, giving the pro-gov-
ernment forces access to
the northwestern province
of Idlib. A rebel coalition
that includes the al-Qaida-
affiliated Nusra Front drove
Assad’s forces out of Idlib in
September, in a major set-
back for the government.
Their hold on the province
Germany:
Thousands rally at protest against refugees, Islam the conflict, undermining
FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press
DRESDEN, Germany (AP) —
Thousands of Germans took
part Monday in a protest
organized by the anti-Islam
group PEGIDA, almost one
year after it held its first rally stan and Iraq. “They are
in the eastern city of Dres-
den. Police declined to
provide a crowd count for
the protest, which passed
peacefully. An AP reporter
estimated the crowd at
about 7,000-8,000. Speak-
ers including PEGIDA co-
founder Lutz Bachmann
Russia’s military
threatened Latakia. The geting the IS group and the south. Another activist- moves in Syria
Russian Defense Ministry run monitoring group, the
said it has struck 53 alleged other “terrorists,” but the Shaam News Network, said RAF CASERT
Islamic State targets in the the insurgents ambushed Associated Press
multi-pronged ground- government forces inside LUXEMBOURG (AP) — Eu-
the village, which is report- ropean Union nations on
and-air offensive is being edly laden with tunnels. Monday criticized Rus-
The Syrian military said in a sia’s military intervention
Syrian soldiers waving Syrian flags celebrate the capture of statement that it took con- in Syria, with the bloc’s top
Achan, Hama province, Syria. Russian jets intensified their trol of the village and oth- diplomat calling it a wor-
airstrikes Monday in the central Syrian province as government ers nearby. Activist Hadi rying “game changer.”
and allied troops pushed out insurgents from local villages Abdullah, who travels with But EU countries main-
to expand their control of the area, activists and a military insurgents to report from tained Moscow’s efforts
statement said. the front lines, said the fight- wouldn’t keep President
ers had regained control of Bashar Assad in power.
(Alexander Kots/Komsomolskaya Pravda via AP) the village. It was not pos- EU foreign ministers warned
sible to reconcile the two Moscow to center its mili-
past 24 hours, destroying waged in areas controlled accounts. tary actions in Syria on the
command centers, ammu- by mainstream rebels as The Observatory reported Islamic State group and not
nition and fuel depots as well as the Nusra Front. The that the fighting and air go after the moderate op-
well as training camps al- government ground of- raids on Kfar Nabudeh position at the same time.
legedly used by foreign mil- fensive began on Oct. 7, a left nine militants and five “It has to be coordinated”
itants. The ministry said the week after Russia began its troops and pro-govern- among the U.S., the EU and
IS positions were in the cen- airstrikes. The Britain-based ment gunmen dead. Russia, EU foreign policy
tral provinces of Homs and Syrian Observatory for Hu- Later Monday, Syrian state chief Federica Mogherini
Hama, as well as in Latakia man Rights said at least media and the Observa- said of the attacks in Syria.
and Idlib. IS has a limited 30 airstrikes were carried tory said government forc- “Otherwise it risks being
presence in Hama, away out in Kfar Nabudeh, while es captured the village of extremely dangerous, not
from where the fighting has government troops and Mansoura on the northern only from a political point
been concentrated. Lebanon’s Hezbollah fight- edge of Hama province. of view, but mainly from a
Russia insists it is mainly tar- ers entered the village from During the last six days of military point of view.” Rus-
ground operations, govern- sian airstrikes have backed
ment troops have seized at moves by Syrian troops
least two villages in eastern against insurgents in the
Hama province, Atshan center of the country, but
and Tal Sukayk, and a third President Vladimir Putin has
in the plain area. Activists said Russian efforts would
say rebels seized a village help reach a political set-
south of Idlib.q tlement. Countering this,
the EU ministers said in a
statement that “this military
escalation risks prolonging
a political process, aggra-
denounced the decision a mock gallows with two candidate in the Dresden vating the humanitarian
of German Chancellor An- hangman’s nooses, marked mayoral elections, suggest- situation and increasing
gela Merkel government’s “Reserved for Angela ed that the state of Saxony radicalization.” France’s
decision to take in hundreds Merkel” and “Reserved for should split from the rest of Europe Minister Harlem De-
of thousands of refugees, Sigmar Gabriel,” her dep- Germany. Saxony has seen sir said that Assad couldn’t
many of whom are fleeing uty. PEGIDA, the German some of the most violent be part of a solution to the
conflicts in Syria, Afghani- acronym for “Patriotic Euro- protests against refugees in conflict and the conclu-
peans against the Islamiza- recent months. sions of the EU ministerial
leading us straight into a tion of the West,” has seen Some in the crowd waved meeting said that “there
European civil war,” Bach- a fresh rise in support in re- Hungarian and Russian flags cannot be a lasting peace
mann told the crowd in cent months, though rallies and chanted “Merkel to Si- in Syria under the present
front of Dresden’s famous remain smaller than their beria, Putin to Berlin.” Most leadership.” The statement
Semperoper opera house. peak of 25,000 in January. declined to speak to report- left it in the middle what, if
Protesters responded with Tatjana Festerling, a speak- ers, referring to them as “ly- any role, Assad could have
chants of “Merkel must go” er who earlier this year re- ing press,” a term favored as the nation is seeking a
and calls to deport refu- ceived almost 10 percent by Nazi propagandists such political transition to end
gees. One protester carried of the vote as PEGIDA’s as Joseph Goebbels.q the war.q