Page 9 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 11 april 2017
Attacks test Egypt’s president who orders state of emergency

MAGGIE MICHAEL there but was unhurt.
Associated Press “We are seeing simulta-
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt im- neous attacks, based on
posed a three-month na- strong information, target-
tionwide state of emergen- ing big churches across
cy Monday as President the country. This is a very
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi sought dangerous development,”
to ease public anger and said Mina Thabet, a rights
take a tougher stand researcher focusing on mi-
against Islamic extrem- norities.
ists after suicide bombings “Christians are in a state
at two Coptic Christian of shock,” he added. “At-
churches killed 45 people. tacks are recurrent, victims
A day after the Palm Sun- are falling in bigger num-
day bloodshed, the Interior bers, and people live in
Ministry said it killed seven fear and these groups are
Islamic State militants in an growing in power, number,
exchange of gunfire dur- and resources.”
ing a security operation There were scenes of grief
in the southern city of As- and anguish Monday as
siut. The ministry alleged mourners wailed during
they were plotting attacks funerals at the sprawl-
against Christians. It post- Men react during the funeral for those killed in a Palm Sunday church attack in Alexandria Egypt, ing St. Mina monastery on
ed photos of corpses lying at the Mar Amina Church, Monday, April 10, 2017. Egyptian Christians buried their dead on Mon- the outskirts of Alexandria.
next to weapons and said day, a day after Islamic State suicide bombers killed at least 45 people in coordinated attacks Some collapsed near the
IS publications were found targeting Palm Sunday services in two cities. (AP Photo/Samer Abdallah) caskets, which bore the
with them. word “martyr.”
A state of emergency al- tians, who make up 10 per- The Palm Sunday bombings ta. The head of the Coptic Similar scenes took place a
ready in place in the Sinai cent of the population, by struck churches in the port church, Pope Tawadros II, day earlier at a church in
Peninsula has failed to halt moving its activities from city of Alexandria, the his- had been inside St. Mark’s Tanta, where victims were
near daily attacks against the Sinai to other parts of toric seat of Christendom in Cathedral in Alexandria laid to rest in a place of
police and security forces Egypt. Its increasingly so- Egypt, and the city of Tan- when the bomber struck honor.q
by the Islamic State group phisticated tactics are like-
in the volatile area. ly to fuel sectarian tensions
Now the group is stepping and embarrass el-Sissi.
up its attacks against Chris-

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters
pressing IS gunmen in north

BASSEM MROUE The Britain-based Syr-
Associated Press ian Observatory for Human
BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed Rights said fighting be-
Syrian fighters on Monday tween the SDF and IS mem-
pushed ahead in their of- bers on the eastern outskirts
fensive in northern Syria of the town of Tabqa left at
against members of the least 11 extremists dead.
Islamic State group under It said 36 IS fighters have
the cover of U.S.-led coali- been killed in fighting since
tion airstrikes, moving clos- Sunday.
er to a strategic town that The SDF said on social me-
is home to the country’s dia that its fighters marched
largest dam. about 3 kilometers (2 miles)
The latest advance by the from the eastern side of
Kurdish-led Syrian Demo- Tabqa, the location of Syr-
cratic Forces showed that ia’s largest dam.
operations were still ongo- Separately, the Pentagon
ing after last week’s U.S. said U.S. military advisers
missile attack on a Syrian helped U.S.-trained Syrian
army air base in the coun- opposition forces to repel
try’s center. That attack fol- an IS attack on the al-Tanf
lowed a chemical attack border crossing between
on the northern town of Syria and Iraq over the
Khan Sheikhoun that killed weekend.
87 people. Air Force Col. John J.
The U.S. blamed the Syr- Thomas, spokesman for U.S.
ian government for the at- Central Command, told
tack — a charge that Syria reporters at the Pentagon
strongly denied, saying it that military advisers were
hit a rebel arsenal that had present at the time of the
chemical weapons. fighting.q