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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 28 March 2017

US-backed fighters pause military action near Syria dam

BASSEM MROUE an government or IS, which
Associated Press operates a quasi-state in
BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed the areas under its control.
forces in northern Syria The Britain-based Syrian
paused military operations Observatory for Human
near a dam held by the Is- Rights said technicians in-
lamic State group on Mon- side IS-held Tabqa did not
day to allow engineers to reach the dam during the
fix any problems after con- cease-fire, to reactivate its
flicting reports about its sta- main power controls.
bility. There was no explanation
The decision by the Syrian given.
Democratic Forces came The engineer Ahmad Far-
a day after conflicting re- hat, who oversaw the me-
ports over whether civilians chanical administration
had begun evacuating of the dam, said that it is
the nearby city of Raqqa “equipped with the nec-
— the extremists’ de facto essary precautions for its
capital — due to concerns own protection,” but there
about the Tabqa dam on needs to be technical per-
the Euphrates River. sonnel on site to engage
Some activist groups op- them. He spoke with The This still image taken from drone footage posted online Monday, March. 27, 2017 by the Aamaq
posed to IS have said resi- Associated Press from the News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, shows smoke rising near the Tabqa Dam,
dents are seeking higher rebel-held northwestern in Raqqa, Syria. U.S.-backed forces in northern Syria paused military operations near a major dam
ground, fearing that the Syrian province of Idlib. held by the Islamic State group in order to allow engineers to fix any problems after conflicting
reports about its stability.
collapse of the dam could Engineer Aboud al Haj (Aamaq News Agency via AP)
cause severe flooding, Aboud who was the head
while others said people of the electricity division of
were remaining in place. the dam said on social me- tion to ensure the integ- since the United States air- on the southern edge of
Conflicting reports are dia that if indeed the con- rity of the dam. “To our lifted hundreds of forces, as the air base, but it was not
common in areas con- trol room is busted and the knowledge, the dam has well as American advisers clear if it inflicted casual-
trolled by IS, which bans gates of the dam cannot not been structurally dam- and artillery, behind enemy ties among SDF fighters, the
independent media. be opened, it will still take aged,” it said on its Twitter lines last week. activist collective Raqqa is
The SDF, a U.S.-backed at least a month for the account. The SDF announced they Being Slaughtered Silently
and Kurdish-led force, has waters being held back by SDF fighters on Sunday had captured the Tabqa and the Observatory re-
been fighting IS in the area the dam to overflow the captured a strategically air base, 45 kilometers (28 ported.
since Friday in an attempt top of the structure. important air base from IS miles) west of Raqqa. Fighting is ongoing in areas
to capture the dam, one The U.S.-led coalition said in Raqqa province, mark- On Monday, IS fighters near the air base, both ac-
of the main sources of it is taking every precau- ing their first major victory detonated a car bomb tivist groups said.q
electricity in northern Syria.
The SDF said in a statement Rights group: Coalition isn’t protecting Mosul civilians
that the cease-fire expired
at 5 p.m. local time, after BAGHDAD (AP) — A recent dents have said killed more led coalition airstrikes which the city’s western half.
their engineers inspected spike in civilian casualties than a hundred civilians. have destroyed whole Civilians, humanitarian
the structure and found no in Mosul suggests the U.S.- U.S. officials did not confirm houses with entire families groups and monitoring of-
faults. Photos credited to led coalition is not taking there were civilian casual- inside,” the report stated. ficials have repeatedly
an embedded freelance adequate precautions to ties but opened an investi- It said any failure to take warned of the possibility of
journalist indicated they prevent civilian deaths as gation. precautions to prevent ci- increased civilian casual-
had just inspected the it battles the Islamic State The report also cites a sec- vilian casualties would be ties in western Mosul due
dam’s spillway, which is on militant group alongside ond strike on Saturday that “in flagrant violation of in- to the higher density of
SDF-controlled territory. The Iraqi ground forces, it said killed “up to 150 peo- ternational humanitarian the population and the
main dam structure and Amnesty International said ple.” The U.S.-led coalition law.” increased reliance on air-
the gates lie 4 kilometers Tuesday. said in a statement that it Iraqi forces began the as- strikes and artillery.
(2.5 miles) away and are The human rights group’s was investigating multiple sault on IS-held Mosul in Faced with their toughest
still held by IS militants. report follows acknowl- strikes in western Mosul that October after months of fight against IS yet, Iraqi
The SDF said the request for edgement from the coali- allegedly resulted in civilian preparation and buildup. and coalition forces have
a cease-fire was made by tion that the U.S. military deaths. In January, Iraq declared increasingly turned to air-
the dam’s administrators, was behind a March 17 Evidence gathered on the east Mosul “fully liberated” strikes and artillery to clear
without specifying whether strike in a western Mosul ground in Mosul “points to and government forces and hold territory in Mosul’s
they were part of the Syri- neighborhood that resi- an alarming pattern of U.S.- are now battling to retake west.q