17 Oct 2016 - NPWJ News Digest on Middle East and North Africa Democracy

Articles

Missiles 'fired at US warships' near Yemen amid attacks on Houthi rebels
By The Independent, 17 Oct 2016

A new round of missiles may have been fired at an American Warship from a Houthi-controlled region in Yemen, according to US officials. Head navy officer Admiral John Richardson said the destroyer USS Mason appeared "to have come under attack" but was not hit. Yet following the initial reports, US officials backtracked on whether there was such an attack. They said they were investigating the possibility and declined to give further details. It comes amid rising tensions between the US and the Iran-allied group. If confirmed, it will be the third attack in around a week targeting the destroyer USS Mason and other US ships in the region. Officials initially said surface-to-surface missiles had been fired at the USS Mason, USS Nitze and USS Ponce from around 7.30pm GMT. The ships were in international waters off the coast of Yemen. Yet they later said the ships detected what may have been missiles.

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Iraq launches Mosul offensive to drive out Islamic State
By Reuters, 17 Oct 2016

Iraqi government forces, with air and ground support from the U.S.-led coalition, launched an offensive on Monday to drive Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul, the militants' last major stronghold in the country. Helicopters released flares overhead and explosions could be heard on the city's eastern front, where Kurdish fighters moved forward to take outlying villages, a Reuters correspondent said. The United States predicted Islamic State would suffer "a lasting defeat" as Iraqi forces mounted their biggest operation since the U.S. withdrew its own troops in 2011. Some 30,000 Iraqi soliders, Kurdish Peshmerga militia and Sunni tribal fighters were expected to take part in the offensive to drive an estimated 4,000 to 8,000 Islamic State militants from Mosul, a city of 1.5 million people. "I announce today the start of the heroic operations to free you from the terror and the oppression of Daesh," Prime Minister Haider Abadi said in a speech on state TV, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. "We will meet soon on the ground of Mosul to celebrate liberation and your salvation," he said, surrounded by the armed forces' top commanders. Qatar-based al-Jazeera television aired video of what it said was a bombardment of Mosul that started after Abadi's speech, showing rockets and bursts of tracer bullets across the night sky and loud sounds of gunfire. "This operation to regain control of Iraq's second-largest city will likely continue for weeks, possibly longer," said the commander of the coalition, U.S. Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, in a statement.

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US and UK consider tougher sanctions against Syria and allies
by The Guardian, 16 Oct 2016

The US and Britain said on Sunday that they were considering fresh economic sanctions against the Syrian government and its supporters in response to the continued bombardment of Aleppo, but failed to develop any consensus for tougher military options, including a no-bombing zone. At the end of four hours of talks in London among the countries backing the Syrian opposition, the British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, was forced to declare that “there is a lack of political appetite, to put it mildly” among western nations for going to war in Syria. Johnson has been canvassing support for a no-bombing zone, but there is little support for the proposal either in the White House or Downing Street, largely due to fears it will lead to a Russian counter-strike and a deeper conflagration. Syrian opposition figures are hoping to persuade Hillary Clinton to adopt a more robust attitude, should she become US president next month. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said the west will look again at intensifying economic sanctions, but did not specify Russia as a target. “We are considering additional sanctions and we are also making clear that President [Barack] Obama has not taken any options off the table,” Kerry said. It is understood that the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, a key figure in EU sanctions, is willing to countenance tougher measures, but she is having difficulty persuading her SPD allies in the coalition that they work. 

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Syria war: Turkish-backed rebels seize Dabiq from ISIL
by Al Jazeera , 16 Oct 2016

Syrian opposition fighters backed by Turkey have taken control of the northern Syrian town of Dabiq from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. The fighters said they seized the town on Sunday following heavy shelling and months of air strikes. Dabiq is considered a major ISIL stronghold with symbolic importance to the group, also known as ISIS. A commander of the Syrian opposition Hamza Brigade said ISIL fighters put up "minimal" resistance, before withdrawing in the direction of the much larger ISIL-held town of al-Bab to the south. Saif Abu Bakr told The Associated Press news agency some 2,000 opposition fighters pushed into Dabiq with tank and artillery support from the Turkish army. The commander said the ISIL fighters left the town heavily mined.Both Turkish and international coalition warplanes conducted air strikes on Dabiq and nearby Arshak, the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow, reporting from Gaziantep , a town along the Turkey-Syria border , said the rebels have not only taken control of Dabiq but also some towns nearby. "This is huge setback for ISIL because it is not only a strategic town but it also holds a huge symbolic value for ISIL," he said.

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United Nations condemns attempted coup in Libya
by The Guardian , 15 Oct 2016

The United Nations has condemned an attempted coup in Libya that has seen a rival administration capture key government buildings, as both rebels and officials scrambled to win the support of Tripoli’s powerful militias. The UN envoy Martin Kobler said: “I condemn the attempt to seize the headquarters of the high council of state. Such actions … will generate further disorder and insecurity and must end for the sake of the Libyan people.” His comments came hours after armed units backed by trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns seized buildings of the UN-backed government of national accord around Tripoli’s Rixos hotel complex, with local forces fleeing without a battle. Fayez al-Sarraj, the GNA’s prime minister, and his seven-strong presidency council have spent the past week ensconced in a hotel in neighbouring Tunisia debating a new cabinet, after deciding the Libyan capital was unsafe.The plotters have proclaimed the return of a former administration, the national salvation government, in what has so far been a bloodless takeover. Coup leader Khalifa al-Ghwell, a former prime minister, declared the GNA was now void after repeated failures. “The presidential council was given chances one after another to form the government, but it fails ... and has become an illegal executive authority,” he said.

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Somalia: AMISOM Troops Struggle to Counter IED Threat
By All Africa, 14 Oct 2016

A platoon of African Union soldiers patrol a village outside Mogadishu. They walk on foot ahead of three armored vehicles in order to sweep for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by al-Shabab insurgents. The goal is to find and defuse any bombs before they go off. Over the last five years, the African Union (AU) troops, called AMISOM, forced al-Shabab from most major towns, but the rebels have regrouped with IEDs as their weapon of choice. The insurgents have developed a sophisticated IED building network, regularly targeting both soldiers and civilians in ever larger attacks which have managed to slow AMISOM's advance. "IEDs are the biggest threat in this counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism operation," says AMISOM Deputy Force Commander Major General Nakibus Lakara. "Al-Shabab has been able to leverage its expertise on IEDs to very, very devastating effect." 2016 is set to be the worst year yet for IED attacks in Somalia, with more than 225 attacks so far, according to the Sahan Research Group. In late August, blasts at two hotels in Mogadishu killed 22 people. Shortly after, a car bomb killed a senior Somali general and his bodyguards. Though there are no exact numbers, hundreds are believed to have been killed form IED attacks in the last 12 months. The bombs are getting bigger too, up to 80 kilograms compared to five or 10 kilograms just a few years ago, according to Major General Lakara.

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