Page 5 - UPDATED PAUL CROES DEC 22

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Thursday 22 december 2016
Rights group: IS in Mosul targets civilians as it retreats

BAGHDAD (AP) — Islamic creasingly being caught in findings were based on in- on both sides to spare civil- the country’s second larg-
State militants in Mosul are the crossfire, with at least 19 terviews with more than ians. “Civilians are being hit est city and the extremist
deliberately targeting civil- killed and dozens wounded 50 residents who had fled from all sides in Mosul,” said group’s last major urban
ians who refuse to join them in the period from the third eastern Mosul, HRW said. Lama Fakih, deputy Mid- bastion in Iraq. The troops’
as they retreat ahead of week of November into the It cited instances of IS mili- dle East director at HRW, advances slowed once
advancing Iraqi forces in- first week of December. tants telling residents that adding that Islamic State they pushed into more
volved in a large-scale gov- The New York-based group those who stay behind are group’s “atrocities do not densely populated areas.
ernment operation to re- said the fatalities incurred “unbelievers” and there- absolve Iraqi forces and IS captured Mosul in the
take the militant-held city, from IS mortar or sniper fore valid targets beside the international coalition summer of 2014 as part of
an international watchdog fire, car bombs, roadside the Iraqi and coalition from doing their utmost to a blitz that placed nearly a
said on Wednesday. bombings and direct at- forces. HRW warned that protect civilians.” third of Iraq under their con-
The statement from Hu- tacks, as well as in airstrikes targeting civilians or using The Iraqi military launched trol. Since last year, IS has
man Rights Watch also said by the Iraqi forces and them as human shields is a a massive operation in lost swath areas in western
that Mosul civilians were in- the U.S.-led coalition. The war crime, and appealed October to retake Mosul, and northern Iraq. q

Aleppo evacuations in heavy snow end brutal war chapter

since an uprising against his heavy yellow blanket. A
family’s four-decade rule man held a toddler whose
swept the country in 2011. face was peeking out from
The evacuations were set under a blanket shielding
in motion last week after him from falling snow.
Syria’s opposition agreed The opposition’s Britain-
to surrender its last foot- based Syrian Observa-
holds in eastern Aleppo. tory for Human Rights said
Since then, about 25,000 Wednesday evening that
fighters and civilians have with the evacuation of the
been bused out, accord- last group of rebels from
ing to the United Nations. eastern Aleppo, Assad was
On Wednesday, buses be- in full control, save for a
gan evacuating the last few positions on the west-
rebels and civilians, an esti- ern outskirts of the city that
mated 3,000 people. were still in rebel hands.
By nightfall, 25 buses car- Meanwhile, the Interna-
rying hundreds of people tional Committee of the
had driven in a rare snow Red Cross said patients and
storm from eastern Aleppo all those requiring medical
Syrians evacuated from the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo during the ceasefire arrive at a refu- to opposition-held areas in care had been evacuated
gee camp in Rashidin, near Idlib, Syria. Hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians were bused out of the countryside near the from the last hospital in the
war-ravaged Aleppo in heavy snow on Wednesday as the evacuation of former rebel strongholds city, said opposition activ- city’s east.
entered its final phase. ist Ahmad Primo, who was Pro-government forces
(AP Photo) monitoring arrivals at the repeatedly struck medi-
PHILIP ISSA snow on Wednesday as the brutal chapters in Syria’s main drop-off point in the cal facilities in rebel-held
KARIN LAUB evacuation of former rebel civil war. The departures Rashideen district. neighborhoods in their
Associated Press strongholds entered its final from Aleppo pave the way The evacuees got off the push to expel the opposi-
BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of phase. for President Bashar Assad buses wearing thick jack- tion from Aleppo this year.
rebel fighters and civilians, Scenes of buses slowly to assume full control there, ets and carrying sacks with In November, the U.N. said
including small children driving out of Aleppo in a after more than four years belongings. One woman it believed there were no
swaddled in thick blankets, shroud of white offered an of fighting over Syria’s larg- dressed in a black robe more functioning medical
were bused out of war- evocative finale to what est city. It marks the most and face veil carried a facilities in the eastern part
ravaged Aleppo in heavy has been one of the most significant victory for Assad small child swaddled in a of the city.q

Israeli military official says low chances of war in 2017

ARON HELLER ed in sparking a new con- war is one that both sides But with the turmoil that has remains the main “source
Associated Press flict with Israel. didn’t want,” he said, shar- engulfed Iraq and Syria, of terrorism” in the Middle
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Hezbollah is bogged down ing a year-end Israeli intel- along with other areas in East but it too has suffered
Middle East regional chaos in the Syrian civil war and ligence assessment. the region, Israel’s enemies in Syria, taking more than
has weakened Israel’s en- has sustained heavy losses, He spoke to reporters on are primarily engaged else- 1,000 casualties.
emies and created a low while Hamas is deterred condition of anonymity in where, the official said. He said that Iran’s entan-
probability of war involving and in crisis mode having line with military protocol. Hezbollah, glement in the Syrian war
the country in 2017, lost much of its support from Israel fought a monthlong along with Iran, has been alongside Assad’s forces,
a senior Israeli military offi- the outside, he added. war with Hezbollah in 2006 the primary force back- has led it to scale back in
cer said on Wednesday. Still, and has since waged three ing Syrian President Bashar supporting Hamas.
The official said the army he cautioned that an un- wars with Hamas. Assad’s forces and has had The Palestinian militant
has concluded that neither expected “dynamic of es- Both militant groups have more than 1,700 casual- group has seen its backing
Hezbollah militants in Leba- calation” could always risk been backed for years by ties since fighting began in plummet from everywhere
non nor Hamas militants in sparking a new conflict. Iran and are dedicated to 2011 in Syria. except Qatar, a staunch
the Gaza Strip are interest- “In 2017, the most probable Israel’s destruction. The official said that Iran supporter of Gaza’s rulers.q