Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Monday 10 april 2017
North Korea says Syria airstrikes prove its nukes justified

but we are not frightened duct similar precision strikes ever and have included
by it,” the report said, add- against its territory or even stealth fighter training and
ing that the North’s “tre- launch an all-out invasion. other maneuvers that are
mendous military muscle It claims its nuclear weap- particularly sensitive to
with a nuclear force as its ons are a necessary de- North Korea.For its part, the
pivot” will foil any aggres- terrent to the U.S. military North test-launched a bal-
sion by the U.S.“We will threat.Washington denies it listic missile just ahead of
bolster up in every way our has any intention of invad- the Trump-Xi meeting and
capability for self-defense ing the North.Tensions have has been rumored to be
to cope with the U.S. ever- been even higher than preparing for a possible nu-
more reckless moves for a usual over the past few clear test.The Korean Pen-
war and defend ourselves weeks because annual war insula remains technically
with our own force,” it said. games between the U.S. at war since the 1950-53
North Korea has long and South Korean militaries Korean conflict ended with
claimed that the United are underway. The exercis- an armistice, not a formal
States is preparing to con- es this year are the biggest peace treaty.q
In this Feb. 13, 2017 photo, a
man watches a TV news pro-
gram showing photos pub-
lished in North Korea’s Rodong
Sinmun newspaper of North
Korea’s “Pukguksong-2” mis-
sile launch, at Seoul Railway
station in Seoul, South Korea.
North Korea has vowed to
bolster its defenses to protect
itself against airstrikes like the
ones President Donald Trump
ordered against an air base in
Syria.
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

ERIC TALMADGE
Associated Press
PYONGYANG, North Korea
(AP) — North Korea has
vowed to bolster its defens-
es to protect itself against
airstrikes like the ones Presi-
dent Donald Trump or-
dered against an air base
in Syria.
The North called the air-
strikes “absolutely unpar-
donable” and said they
prove its nuclear weapons
are justified to protect the
country against Washing-
ton’s “evermore reckless
moves for a war.”
The comments were made
by a Foreign Ministry of-
ficial and carried Sunday
by North Korea’s state-
run Korean Central News
Agency. The report did not
name the official, which is
common in KCNA reports.
The airstrikes, announced
shortly after Trump and
Chinese President Xi Jin-
ping wrapped up dinner at
a two-day summit in Flori-
da last week, were retali-
ation against Syrian Presi-
dent Bashar Assad for a
chemical weapons attack
against civilians caught up
in his country’s long civil
war.
“Some forces are loud-
mouthed that the recent
U.S. military attack on Syria
is an action of warning us