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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 13 december 2016
Syria rebels retreat in Aleppo in ‘terrifying’ collapse

SARAH EL DEEB since 2012, would be Presi- government control and On Sunday, the Islamic pation with the fighting in
ZEINA KARAM dent Bashar Assad’s big- huge swaths of the country State group re-occupied Aleppo. On Monday, the
Associated Press gest victory yet in the coun- are a devastated waste- the ancient town of Pal- Britain-based Syrian Ob-
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian reb- servatory for Human Rights
els retreated from former said IS fighters were on the
strongholds in eastern verge of imposing a siege
Aleppo in a “terrifying” on a nearby army base
collapse Monday, hold- known as T4.
ing onto a small sliver of The IS recapture of Palmy-
territory packed with fight- ra nine months after it was
ers and thousands of civil- retaken by Syrian govern-
ians as government troops ment and Russian troops
pressed on with their rapid led to mutual recrimina-
advance. tions between Western of-
The Syrian military said it ficials and Moscow.
had gained control of 99 French Foreign Minister
percent of the former op- Jean-Marc Ayrault ac-
position enclave in eastern cused Russia of “pretend-
Aleppo, signaling an im- ing to fight terrorism” while
pending end to the rebels’ it concentrated on Aleppo,
four-year hold over parts of leaving room for the mili-
the city as the final hours of tants to retake Palmyra.
battle played out. Russian Foreign Minister Ser-
“The situation is very, very gey Lavrov lashed back,
critical,” said Ibrahim al-Haj accusing the U.S.-led co-
of the Syrian Civil Defense, alition of orchestrating the
volunteer first responders Palmyra takeover “in or-
who operate in rebel-held Two Syrian soldiers pass by a tank where government forces have captured wide areas in eastern der to give a respite to the
areas. He said he was seek- Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Dec. 12, 2016. Syria’s military said Monday it has regained control of 98 bandits sitting in eastern
ing shelter for himself and percent of eastern Aleppo, as government forces close in the last remaining sliver of a rebel en- Aleppo.”
his family, fearing clashes clave packed with fighters as well as tens of thousands of civilians. In Aleppo, staff members
or capture by the govern- (SANA via AP) of the last remaining clinic
ment. Retaking Aleppo, in rebel-held territory hud-
which has been divided try’s civil war. But it does not land. More than a quarter myra, taking advantage dled in a shelter as Syrian
between rebel- and gov- end the conflict: Significant of a million people have of the Syrian army and its government forces pushed
ernment-controlled zones parts of Syria are still outside been killed. Russian backers’ preoccu- in. q

Pro-Kurd party members held
in wake of Istanbul bombings

DOMINIQUE SOGUEL the attack on a website
Associated Press that is blocked in Turkey.
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish au- “This is definitely a repercus-
thorities arrested more than sion of the current crack-
200 people Monday follow- down on the Kurdish peo-
ing suicide bombings near ple,” said Cenk Sidar, presi-
an Istanbul stadium that dent of Sidar Global Advi-
killed 44 people. The arrests sors, a risk advisory group in
primarily targeted mem- Washington. “It seems likely
bers of a Kurdish political (PKK) will go ahead with
party that already was a these high-casualty, low-
focus of a broader govern- cost attacks for them, and
ment crackdown. it is a very dangerous trend
Saturday’s attack, which in the country.”
a radical Kurdish group Turkey, a NATO member
claimed as an act of re- and a partner in the U.S.-
venge for state violence led campaign against the
against the ethnic minority Islamic State group, faces
in the southeast, was the a myriad of internal and
deadliest to hit Istanbul this external security threats.
year. The Turkish state is locked in
Authorities blamed the conflict with Kurdish rebels
carnage on the Kurdistan in the southeast and militar-
Workers’ Party, or PKK. A ily active across the border
shadowy offshoot of the in Syria and Iraq. This year, it
movement, which has has seen a series of suicide
waged a decades-long in- bombings in major cities
surgency against the state, that were the work of either
claimed responsibility for IS or Kurdish militants.q