Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Monday 12 June 2017

US-backed Syrian fighters seize parts of IS ‘capital’ Raqqa

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S.- control Romaniah and the
backed Syrian opposition eastern neighborhood of
force said Sunday it has Mashlab. The fighters have
captured a northwestern also entered Raqqa’s west-
neighborhood of the Islam- ern neighborhood of Saba-
ic State group’s de-facto hiya and the industrial dis-
capital of Raqqa the sec- trict in the east.
ond district to fall in their Raqqa was among the
hands in days after the first cities captured by IS,
group launched a wide in January 2014, and has
offensive to gain control been the home of some
of the extremists’ de facto of the group’s most promi-
capital. nent leaders.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Dem- The battle for the city is ex-
ocratic Forces said its fight- pected to be extended
ers captured the neighbor- and bloody, and could
hood of Romaniah after mark a major turning point
two days of fighting that in the war against the ex-
left 12 IS gunmen dead, tremists.
including a commander IS has been fortifying its po-
known as Abu Khattab al- sitions in Raqqa for months,
Tunsi. setting up barriers and This frame grab posted online by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State
The Britain-based Syrian hanging sheets of cloth group, shows a mosque that was damaged by bombardment by the U.S.-led coalition and U.S.-
backed fighters in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa. A U.S.-backed Syrian opposition force says
Observatory for Human over main streets to pro- it has captured a northwestern neighborhood in the northern city of Raqqa from the Islamic State
Rights said SDF fighters now vide cover from warplanes. group after two days of fighting.
(Aamaq News Agency via AP)

A belt of land mines and showed wide destruction in ment that the incident took
militant checkpoints circle one of the neighborhoods. place near the spot where
the city. The video also showed se- Jordan, Syria and Iraq
SDF fighters began their of- verely wounded men and meet.
fensive on the city of Raqqa children being rushed to Jordan has been on alert
on June 6 under the cover hospitals. for possible infiltrations by
of airstrikes by the U.S.-led In southern Syria, Jordan IS extremists who seized
coalition. said its border guards have territories in Syria and Iraq
The IS-linked Aamaq news killed five suspected infiltra- in 2014. In recent months,
agency said the city was tors approaching the king- Jordan expressed concern
subjected to intense air- dom’s border from Syria that U.S.-backed offensives
strikes and shelling by the in a pickup truck and two against IS will push some of
SDF and the U.S.-led coali- motorcycles. the militants closer to the
tion releasing a video that The military said in a state- kingdom’s border.q

Gulf nations may let some Qataris stay amid rift

By MALAK HARB The three Gulf nations cut ments urging mixed nation-
JON GAMBRELL ties to Qatar on June 5 over ality families to call their re-
Associated Press its alleged support of mili- spective interior ministries,
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Bah- tants and ties to Iran and or- which would take into con-
rain, Saudi Arabia and the dered all Qataris out within sideration the “humanitar-
United Arab Emirates sig- 14 days, while calling their ian circumstances” of their
naled Sunday they may own citizens back. That’s situation.
allow some Qataris to stay created chaos across the For its part, Qatar issued an
in their countries amid a Sunni Gulf nations, whose overnight statement say-
diplomatic rift with the Gulf citizens regularly intermar- ing residents living in the
nation. ry and conduct business country from nations that
Qatar meanwhile pledged across countries sharing severed ties would have
those nations’ citizens will long historic and cultural “complete freedom” to
have “complete freedom” bonds. stay despite the “hostile
to stay in the energy-rich Early Sunday, the three and tendentious cam-
country. countries all issued state- paigns” now targeting it.q