Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 23 March 2017

US forces ferry Syrian-Kurdish fighters behind IS lines

a new level of commitment of the Euphrates and cut
to Syria’s Kurds, whose part- the main artery between
nership with the U.S. in fight- Raqqa and northwestern
ing IS has prompted diffi- Syria.
cult discussions with Turkey, The group said in a state-
which sees the militants as ment on social media that
a national security threat. U.S. infantry were also air-
Col. Joseph Scrocca, a lifted into the area of op-
spokesman for the U.S.-led erations. The Pentagon ini-
coalition that is overseeing tially said that the airlift was
the counter-IS campaign in for Syrian fighters only, but
Syria and Iraq, said multiple Scrocca later said that an
U.S. helicopters and other undisclosed number of U.S.
aircraft were used to land military advisers were also
the Syrian fighters south of flown in. Both said that no
Tabqa. The U.S. also pro- U.S. troops were involved in
vided artillery fire from a fighting on the front line.
Marine contingent, as well Tabqa lies 45 kilometers (28
as close air support by U.S. miles) west of Raqqa. The
Army Apache helicopters, Islamic State group con-
This frame grab from video provided by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, he said. trols the town as well as the
shows a tank of Syrian troops passing by the remains of a burned bus, in an eastern neighbor-
hood of Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, March. 22, 2017. Syrian troop are engaged in fighting with “This is pretty major,” he dam and a military airfield
insurgents who have tried to breach government lines in eastern neighborhoods of the capital this said, adding the fight for nearby.
week. The operation is spearheaded by the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee. the dam, the town and the “This is a big operation,”
(Syrian Central Military Media, via AP) airfield is expected to last Pahon said, adding that
at least a couple of weeks. Tabqa is an important IS-
PHILIP ISSA bat operation in Syria. The U.S. has significantly He would not say how held area because of the
ROBERT BURNS The airlift was part of what widened its footprint in many Syrian fighters were dam that provides elec-
Associated Press Pentagon spokesman Eric northern Syria in the past involved. In contradiction tricity to the area. He said
BEIRUT (AP) — U.S. aircraft Pahon described as a few weeks as it prepares to earlier U.S. statements, IS has controlled the area
ferried Syrian Kurdish fight- large, high-priority offensive for the operation to push Scrocca said some of the since 2013 and used it for a
ers and allied forces be- to secure the area around the militants from Raqqa, Syrian fighters who were air- combination of purposes,
hind Islamic State lines on Tabqa and the associated deploying a Marine artillery lifted to Tabqa were Kurds. including as a prison for
Wednesday to spearhead Tabqa Dam on the Euphra- unit and a few dozen Army He said 75 to 80 percent of high-profile hostages and
a major ground assault on tes River which supplies Rangers in addition to spe- the fighters were Syrian Ar- as a training camp and
a strategic town held by electric power to the area. cial operation troops and abs. headquarters.
the extremist group outside “This is a significant strate- advisers to assist the local The U.S.-backed, Kurdish- Retaking the dam would
its self-declared capital, gic target,” said Pahon. If forces. led Syrian Democratic go a long way in isolating
Raqqa, the Pentagon said, successful, the operation Wednesday’s airlift, which Forces confirmed the air- Raqqa and is a crucial step
marking the first time U.S. would “basically cut ISIS Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a lift and said their fighters ahead of the assault on the
forces have provided airlift off” from the western ap- Pentagon spokesman, de-
for local forces on a com- proaches to Raqqa. scribed as a first, displayed seized four villages south city. q
US, South Korea say North Korea’s latest missile test fails

HYUNG-JIN KIM drills that it views as an in- within seconds of launch.” failed launches of its new bomber staged a similar
Associated Press vasion rehearsal. Earlier this South Korea’s Defense Min- medium-range Musudan exercise with Japanese
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — month, North Korea fired istry said it also believes the missile before it successfully fighter jets.
North Korea’s latest missile four ballistic missiles that launch from the eastern test-fired one. The United States often
launch ended in failure on landed in waters off Japan, coastal town of Wonsan Also Wednesday, a U.S. Air sends powerful warplanes
Wednesday as the United triggering strong protests ended in failure. It said it Force B-1B bomber and in times of heightened ten-
States sent a supersonic from Seoul and Tokyo. was analyzing what type of South Korean fighter jets sions on the Korean Pen-
bomber streaking over ally The American military de- missile was launched. conducted joint training insula, which remains in
South Korea in a show of tected what it assessed as The failure might mean that exercises that displayed a technical state of war
force against the North, of- a failed North Korean mis- the missile is a newly devel- “strong deterrence against because the 1950-53 Ko-
ficials said. sile launch on Wednesday oped one the North has not North Korean nuclear and rean War ended with an
The reported launch failure morning, the U.S. Pacific deployed, according to missile threats,” South Ko- armistice, not a peace
comes as the North angrily Command said in a state- South Korean media. Last rea’s Defense Ministry said. treaty. About 28,500 U.S.
reacts to ongoing annual ment. It said the missile “ap- year, the country suffered The U.S. military said the soldiers are deployed in
U.S.-South Korean military pears to have exploded a series of embarrassing training was held after the South Korea.q