Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Friday 30 June 2017
Syrian US-backed forces seize last route into Raqqa

By SARAH EL DEEB speed routes into Raqqa cle the city and has been Hours after the advanc- Islamic State group’s lead-
Associated Press from the south. the SDF plan from the start.” es, IS militants carried out er first declared the “ca-
BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed The Kurdish-led fighters had The Britain-based Syr- a counter-attack on SDF liphate” nearly three years
fighters have seized the last been advancing from the ian Observatory for Human forces east of the city, re- ago.
road into Raqqa and are city’s east after they seized Rights said a unit of the SDF gaining control of sections Three years to the day, Abu
moving eastward along a major stronghold in May, has seized villages across of al-Sinaa and Mashalab Bakr al-Baghdadi made
the river south of the city, and from the west and the river, moving through neighborhoods, which the “caliphate” announce-
almost completing the north. the Kasret al-Faraj area. were captured in the early ment in an audio record-
siege on the militants’ de- “South of the Euphrates The Observatory described days of the offensive, Ab- ing, before appearing for
facto capital, U.S. officials river the SDF now control it as a “strategic” advance durrahman said. He said the first time in public at
and a Syria war monitor all high-speed routes into that completes the siege there were casualties on the mosque days later.
said Thursday. Raqqa,” Col. Joe Scrocca, around Raqqa. both sides. The declaration ushered
A spokesman for the U.S.- spokesman for the U.S-led “IS has no other choice The Thursday develop- in a period of gruesome
led coalition told The As- coalition, said in emails to now but to surrender or ment comes as Iraqi forces violence and an attempt
sociated Press that the Syr- the AP. Moving toward the fight to the end,” said the captured the famous and by the militant group to
ian Democratic Forces are Euphrates from the east Observatory director, Rami hugely symbolic al-Nuri erase borders between the
now in control of all high- “would completely encir- Abdurrahman. mosque in Mosul where the neighboring states.q

Iraqi leader declares end to IS caliphate but fight goes on

By SUSANNAH GEORGE and downed power lines.
Associated Press Many front-line positions
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — With were only reachable by
anti-Islamic State group climbing in and out of
forces on the offensive in homes, across roof tops
both the Iraqi city of Mo- and through holes blasted
sul and the Syrian city of into concrete walls.
Raqqa, Iraq’s prime minis- By early afternoon they had
ter on Thursday declared reached al-Nuri Mosque,
an end to the extremist at once a hugely symbolic
group’s self-proclaimed win and a ruined prize. The
caliphate. But even as site is where IS leader Abu
Prime Minister Haider al- Bakr al-Baghdadi made his
Abadi made the bold as- only public appearance
sertion, deadly fighting in July 2014, declaring the
continued in Mosul — filling self-styled Islamic “caliph-
field hospitals and forcing ate” encompassing terri-
hundreds to flee. tories then-held by the ex-
“We are seeing the end of tremists in Syria and Iraq.
the fake Daesh state. The But IS destroyed the
liberation of Mosul proves mosque and its iconic lean-
that,” al-Abadi said on ing minaret last week, Iraqi
Twitter, using the Arabic and coalition officials said.
acronym for IS. “We will not Iraqi civilians flee as Iraqi Special Forces move toward Islamic State militant positions in the Old The Islamic State group
relent. Our brave forces will City of Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, June 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) blamed a U.S. airstrike for
bring victory.” Across the the blasts, a claim rejected
border in in Raqqa, coali- fighters succeeded in many as 2,500 IS fighters re- City, where IS fighters were by a spokesman for the
tion officials predicted a completely encircling the mained in the city. making their last stand. The U.S.-led coalition who said
long, bloody battle ahead militants’ de-facto capital Beginning at dawn, Iraqi Iraqi troops moved slowly coalition planes “did not
for the Kurdish-led Syrian Thursday. U.S.-led coalition forces began a push along foot paths strewn conduct strikes in that area
Democratic Forces, whose officials estimated that as deeper into Mosul’s Old with rubble, twisted metal at that time.”q
Syria, Russia accuse US of plotting ‘provocation’ in Syria

By ALBERT AJI Ministry said it rejects U.S. on the town of Khan Sheik- mascus of a chemical at- which is set for next week
VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV allegations that Syria was houn that killed nearly 90. tack. in Kazakhstan’s capital, As-
Associated Press preparing for a chemical Earlier this week, the White She said that according to tana.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — weapons attack, House has warned that the information Russia has, The meeting is meant to
Syria’s government and its describing such accusa- Assad is preparing for an- Syrian towns of Saraqib and determine specifics related
ally Russia accused Wash- tions as “misleading” and other chemical attack and Arihah could serve as ven- to safety zones in Syria.
ington on Thursday of con- “completely baseless.” said that the Syrian ruler will ues for the “provocation.” Zakharova’s strongly-word-
cocting a “provocation” It said the objective of such “pay a heavy price” if he Both towns are located ed statement reflect soar-
in Syria, which would then allegations was to “justify unleashes it. in the province of Idlib in ing tensions between Mos-
be blamed on President a new aggression on Syria Also Thursday, Russian For- northwestern Syria and are cow and Washington even
Bashar Assad’s govern- under ill-founded pretexts,” eign Ministry spokeswoman controlled by the rebels. as U.S. President Donald
ment as alleged use of similar to what happened Maria Zakharova said Mos- She claimed that such ac- Trump and Russia’s Vladimir
chemical weapons to justi- in April when the U.S. struck cow has received informa- tion could be aimed at Putin are expected to hold
fy an attack.In a statement a Syrian air base, which tion that Syrian rebels have derailing the next round of their first meeting at the
carried by the official news it said had been used to already fabricated video Syria peace talks brokered sidelines of the G-20 summit
agency, Syria’s Foreign stage a chemical attack materials to accuse Da- by Russia, Turkey and Iran, in Germany. q