Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 16 March 2017

In Mosul, a heavy but not fatal blow to IS Suicide bombers strike Syrian

SUSANNAH GEORGE ties among residents amid In the month since the as- capital as war enters 7th year
Associated Press house-to-house battles. sault on the west began,
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Now some 2,000 militants, troops have retaken the ALBERT AJI
troops have surrounded by a coalition estimate, are city’s airport, a sprawling ZEINA KARAM
western Mosul and military holed up in western Mo- military complex, the main Associated Press
leaders vow it’s only a mat- sul with 700,000 civilians. IS government compound DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Suicide bombers hit the
ter of time until they crush fighters are holding most of and a ribbon of neighbor- main judicial building and a restaurant in Damascus
the last major stand of the those civilians hostage as hoods on the southwest Wednesday, killing at least 30 people and spreading
Islamic State group in Iraq. shields, while forcing some side of Mosul. The offensive fear across Syria’s capital as the country’s civil war en-
But the militants are posi- to flee as cover for their is being waged from three tered its seventh year with no end in sight.
tioning themselves to de- troops. directions with two divi- The attacks reflect a renewed effort by militants to use
fend the remains of their Mosul’s fall will be the big- sions of special forces and insurgent tactics against President Bashar Assad’s forc-
so-called “caliphate” in gest blow yet to IS, largely a force of federal police es in a bid to recover lost momentum.
Syria and wage an insur- breaking its hold over terri- advancing along the Tigris The first attacker, reportedly dressed in a military uni-
form, struck inside the Justice Palace, located near
the famous and crowded Hamidiyeh market. The ex-
plosion left bodies lying amid pools of blood and shat-
tered glass in the building’s main hall, where a picture
of President Bashar Assad hung on one of the walls.
The official news agency, SANA, said another suicide
explosion about an hour later struck a restaurant in the
Rabweh district of Damascus, an area known for its
restaurants and cafes, leading to multiple casualties,
mostly women and children. Syrian TV showed over-
turned plastic chairs and tables at the restaurant with
bloodstains on the floor.
The Ikhbariyeh TV channel said the attacker was being
chased by security agents when he ran into a restau-
rant and detonated his explosives’ vest there.
The bombings were the latest in a spate of deadly
explosions and suicide attacks targeting government-
controlled areas in Syria and its capital.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for ei-
ther attack, but other, similar attacks in recent weeks
were claimed by al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria, which has
come under pressure lately amid infighting with other
insurgent factions in Syria and airstrikes by the U.S.-led
Iraqi federal police return from the front line during fighting against Islamic State militants in west- coalition.
ern Mosul, Iraq, Monday, March 13, 2017. The al-Qaida branch in Syria, The Levant Liberation
(AP Photo/Felipe Dana) Committee, denied responsibility for the attacks late
Wednesday. In a statement released on its Telegram
gent campaign in Iraq. tory in Iraq and ending its River, which divides the city channel, it said that its targets are restricted to security
The extremists are carrying rule over half the “caliph- into its western and eastern and military installations.
out what looks like an orga- ate,” which at its height half. The attacks came as Syrians mark the sixth anniversary
nized, fighting withdrawal: stretched from northern Use of artillery and airpow- of the country’s civil war, which has killed more than
a core of fighters is holding Syria through western Iraq. er has been dramatically 400,000 people and displaced millions of others. The
out in the city using hun- The largest city in IS terri- stepped up, mostly by the conflict began in March 2011 as a popular uprising
dreds of thousands of civil- tory, Mosul provided the Iraqi air force. “They are against Assad’s rule but quickly descended into a full-
ians as shields, tying down group significant financing causing the real destruc- blown civil war that has left large parts of the country in
and bleeding the Iraqi mili- from taxing the population, tion,” said federal police ruins. The chaos allowed al-Qaida and later the Islamic
tary in urban combat. factories to make weapons Cpl. Abbas Takleef, whose State group to gain a foothold in the war-torn nation.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon and space to gather freely. unit retook the government Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF regional director for the
and Iraqi officials say the But the Islamic State complex last week. Middle East and North Africa, told The Associated Press
senior IS leadership has es- group’s durable organiza- Iraqi officers have frequent- Wednesday following a three-day trip to Syria that
caped to regroup in Syria tion ensures it can fall back ly expressed impatience what he has seen is “unprecedented,” even in com-
and the deserts along the to the next fight. with extensive vetting of parison to conflict zones like Yemen, Sudan, Sierra Le-
border to prepare for the THE BATTLEFIELD: Last week- airstrikes required by the one and Rwanda.
future. end, Iraqi forces complete- U.S.-led coalition to avoid “I have never seen a level of destruction so big as I
“They know they will lose ly encircled western Mosul civilian casualties. have been seeing over the last few days,” he said.
Mosul, but they want this to by capturing the last road Recently, the coalition en- Russia and Turkey, who back opposing sides of the
be a hard fight,” said Maj. into the enclave of about abled more of its officers conflict, have been working together to launch a po-
Saif Ali, a commander in 40 square kilometers (15 on the scene to approve litical track focused initially on a cease-fire in Syria, and
the Iraqi special forces on square miles), comprising strikes, speeding up proce- the U.N.’s Syria envoy held another round of peace
the front lines. some of the city’s most dures. talks in Geneva recently, but the talks have gone no-
The civilian population is densely built districts. But more intense bombard- where. Militant groups such as the Islamic State group
perhaps the main reason “Any of the fighters who ment could translate into and the Nusra Front, now known as the Levant Libera-
IS fighters have been able are left in Mosul, they’re deaths among residents. tion Committee, are not part of those talks.
to hold out so long and turn going to die there because Airwars, an independent The recent attacks have struck at highly symbolic
Mosul into such a grueling they are trapped,” Brett group that tracks casual- targets, and may mark the start of a new insurgency
battle. It took months for McGurk, the special presi- ties from the campaign, campaign by insurgents to try and counter recent
Iraqi forces to drive them dential envoy for U.S.-led said several hundred civil- military advances by Assad’s forces, backed by Russia
out of eastern Mosul while coalition against IS, said ians have been killed in and Iran.q
trying to avoid high casual- Sunday. March alone.q