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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 16 May 2017

US trumpets Mosul gains, but Iraq says more aid needed

tion,” he said, adding that
Continued from front
a similar list of reconstruc-
With the fight against IS tion projects was being
in Iraq about to enter its drawn up for the IS-held
fourth year, more than half Syrian city of Raqqa as
of the territory the extrem- U.S.-led coalition forces sur-
ists once held is now under round it ahead of a long-
government control, but anticipated operation to
with those advances has retake it.
come greater demand for But overall, U.S. fiscal contri-
reconstruction money. butions to Iraqi reconstruc-
The U.S. military footprint tion are unlikely to meet
in Iraq has steadily grown the country’s needs. Iraq
in the build-up to and continues to struggle with
throughout the Mosul op- an economic crisis and the
eration, but U.S. funds for central government has
humanitarian relief and called on the international
stabilization remain a frac- community to provide the
tion of defense spending in bulk of the funds.
the IS fight. Last year under the Obama
“We are looking for more administration, McGurk
support as the west side emphasized the need for a
of the city will be liberat- balance between “speed
ed soon,” Maj. Gen. Mu- and sustainability” in the Iraqi civilians walk through rubble as they flee fighting between Iraqi special forces and Islamic
hammed al-Shimary with fight against IS. State militants, in western Mosul, Iraq, Monday, May 15, 2017.
Nineveh Operations Com- “Before you launch a ma- (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
mand told McGurk after jor operation you have to
thanking him for U.S. assis- have in place who is go- office Trump has handed tion,” Tillerson said dur- costs averaging $13 million
tance in the fight so far. ing to hold the city, who is greater decision making ing a meeting of foreign since the operation was
McGurk said the water going to govern the city,” power regarding troop ministers in Washington in launched in 2014.
treatment plant that now he told the Senate foreign levels in Syria, Iraq and Af- March. Instead, he said Over the course of the
provides water to more relations committee during ghanistan to the Pentagon. the U.S. would equip “war same time period, U.S.
than 100,000 people in testimony in June 2016. Additionally, Secretary of torn communities to take contributions to humanitar-
Nineveh is “symbolic of However, U.S. President State Rex Tillerson has em- the lead in rebuilding their ian assistance in Iraq have
this entire effort that we’ve Donald Trump has pledged phasized the limited role institutions and returning to been a fraction of that:
embarked upon to defeat to accelerate the military the U.S. will play in recon- stability.” $1.3 billion with just $350
Daesh.” fight against IS. While the struction in Iraq and Syria. As of March 31, the Pen- million going to stabiliza-
“Here in Nineveh we have White House is yet to re- “As a coalition we are not tagon has spent $12.5 bil- tion projects like the water
hundreds of projects like lease an official overhaul in the business of nation- lion on the fight against IS treatment plant south of
this funded by our coali- of the IS fight, since taking building or reconstruc- in Iraq and Syria with daily Mosul.q

Syrian activists: Airstrikes on IS-held areas kill dozens

By PHILIP ISSA regained full control of a and the opposition in Ge- from the talks and that they The coalition, in an emailed
JAMEY KEATEN northeastern neighbor- neva are serious, after Pres- were “merely a meeting for response to The Associated
Associated Press hood of Damascus, bring- ident Bashar Assad said last the media.” Press, said it did not con-
BEIRUT (AP) — Air raids on ing all parts of the capital week that they were just for The delegations aren’t ex- duct airstrikes on Bouka-
an Islamic State-held vil- under the control of Presi- show. Staffan de Mistura pected to meet face-to- mal on Monday. It added,
lage and town in Syria have dent Bashar Assad’s forces assured reporters that the face, and de Mistura has however, that the coali-
killed at least 32 civilians for the first time since 2012. government delegation at- called for reduced media tion had conducted strikes
over the past two days, ac- The announcement fol- tending the talks is “here to involvement to foster a near the western edge of
tivists said Monday, under- lowed a two-day evacu- work.” The talks are sched- more “businesslike” atmo- Akayrshi and would assess
scoring the risk for hundreds ation of hundreds of reb- uled to begin Tuesday and sphere. It was not immedi- the reports. The coalition
of thousands of residents els and civilians from the last around four days. ately clear who was behind has come under increas-
trapped in areas under neighborhood of Qaboun The envoy declined to the strikes on the village of ing scrutiny by monitor-
the militant group’s control that was completed Mon- comment on Assad’s re- Akayrshi on Sunday and ing groups regarding civil-
ahead of the looming bat- day. The U.N. envoy for marks, aired by Belarus ONT the town of Boukamal on ian casualties in the fight
tle for Raqqa. Syria insisted that the lat- television on Thursday. The the Syrian-Iraqi border Mon- against the Islamic State
The Syrian military, mean- est round of peace talks Syrian leader said “nothing day, and activists blamed group in both Iraq and Syr-
while, announced it had between the government substantial” would come the U.S.-led coalition. ia. q