Wanderlust

Tag: War Conflict

  • Explosion strikes Palestinian prime minister’s convoy in Gaza

    An explosion struck the convoy of the Palestinian prime minister Tuesday as he was making a rare visit to Gaza, in what his Fatah party called an assassination attempt it blamed on Gaza militants.

    JABALIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) — An explosion struck the convoy of the Palestinian prime minister Tuesday as he was making a rare visit to Gaza, in what his Fatah party called an assassination attempt it blamed on Gaza militants.

    The explosion went off shortly after the convoy entered Gaza through the Erez crossing with Israel. Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was unharmed and went on to inaugurate a long-awaited sewage plant project in the northern part of the strip. But Fatah quickly held Gaza’s Islamic Hamas rulers responsible for the “cowardly attack” on the convoy, further escalating tensions between the bitter rival factions.

    Three of the vehicles in Hamdallah’s convoy were damaged, their windows blown out. One had signs of blood on the door.

    Hamas confirmed an explosion struck the convoy but said no injuries were reported. It condemned the Gaza explosion, calling it a crime and an attempt to “hurt efforts to achieve unity and reconciliation.” It promised an “urgent” investigation.

    While President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Hamas for the blast, his security chief Majed Farraj, who was in the convoy, said it was “too early” to say who was responsible.

    Hamdallah, who is based in the West Bank, arrived in Hamas-run Gaza to inaugurate the sewage plant and said there that the attack will “not deter from seeking to end the bitter split. We will still come to Gaza.”

    The rival factions have been trying to reconcile since 2007 when Hamas seized control of Gaza from Fatah forces and have suffered several setbacks in their efforts since. The takeover left the Palestinians with two rival governments, Hamas in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority governing autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

    In November, Hamas handed over control of Gaza’s border crossings to the Palestinian Authority. It was the first tangible concession in years of Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks. But negotiations have bogged down since then.

    Hamdallah’s visit comes amid a time of crisis in Gaza, where the economy is devastated. The White House is hosting a gathering of international representatives Tuesday to discuss economic development and the dire humanitarian situation, which White House envoy Jason Greenblatt has blamed on Hamas‘ control.

    “The challenge will be determining which ideas can be realistically implemented in light of the fact that the Palestinians of Gaza continue to suffer under the authoritarian rule of Hamas,” he said in a statement.

    The plant in question was envisioned in 2007 after overburdened sewage reservoirs collapsed, killing five villagers.

    The World Bank, European Union and other European governments have paid nearly $75 million in funding. Hamas‘ takeover of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in 2007 and the ensuing Israeli-Egyptian blockade, power shortages and conflicts delayed the opening of the project for four years.

    Besides the old reservoirs, the plant will receive wastewater from four towns and villages. After treatment, the water will be transferred for irrigation and the remainder will be safely dumped to the sea.

  • Aid delivered to Syria’s Ghouta amid renewed violence

    An aid convoy crossed into the embattled rebel-held suburbs of Damascus Friday, delivering desperately needed aid despite heavy fighting that broke out “extremely close” to the convoy and renewed airs

    BEIRUT (AP) — An aid convoy crossed into the embattled rebel-held suburbs of Damascus Friday, delivering desperately needed aid despite heavy fighting that broke out “extremely close” to the convoy and renewed airstrikes by the Syrian government.

    The International Committee of the Red Cross said the close-range fighting came despite security guarantees from the parties involved in the conflict that humanitarian aid could enter the town of Douma, in eastern Ghouta.

    “We were taken aback by the fighting that broke out despite guarantees from the parties involved in this conflict that humanitarians could enter Douma, in Eastern Ghouta,” said ICRC regional director Robert Mardini.

    “As more aid is needed in the coming days, it is absolutely critical that these assurances be renewed and respected in the future,” Mardini said. “Aid workers should not have to risk their lives to deliver assistance. The security of humanitarian workers, as well as that of civilians, must be guaranteed at all times.”

    ICRC said it delivered along with the U.N. and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent 2,400 food parcels that can sustain 12,000 people for one month, as well as 3,248 wheat flour bags.

    The delivery consists of supplies that were not offloaded during a mission to the enclave on Monday, which was cut short because of deteriorating security. The trucks had been stuck at the Wafideen crossing over the entire week, waiting to enter and deliver the remaining food parcels and flour bags.

    The ICRC said the aid was delivered in Douma — the largest and most populated town in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta, on the edge of the Syrian capital — earlier in the day. The convoy entered during a brief lull but the bombardment and fighting resumed after the convoy entered eastern Ghouta.

    Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Douma was shelled before the convoy went in. Once the relief workers arrived, Syrian government forces shelled the outskirts of the town, he said.

    Mohammed Alloush, the political chief of the Army of Islam rebel group, told The Associated Press that the as the convoy was inside Douma they were “being targeted by the regime although they have informed the Russians about their location.” Alloush’s group is the largest in eastern Ghouta and controls Douma.

    ICRC spokeswoman Ingy Sedky said aid workers went into eastern Ghouta “after getting security guarantees from all parties to make sure no incident will happen during the presence of our team” there.

    The attempt followed what opposition activists and the Observatory said was one of the quietest nights in eastern Ghouta since Syrian government forces escalated their assault on the rebellious region on Feb. 18.

    The government and its Russian backers, determined to wrest eastern Ghouta from rebel control after seven years of war, recently intensified the shelling and bombardment to clear the way for its troops to advance on the ground. Around 900 people have been killed in the past three weeks of relentless bombardment.

    Doctors Without Borders said Friday that between Feb. 18 and March 3 at least 1,005 people were killed and 4,829 wounded — or 71 killed and 344 wounded on average per day. The group known by its French acronym, MSF, said that the data was collected from 10 medical facilities that it fully supports and another 10 facilities it provides with emergency medical donations inside the eastern Ghouta enclave.

    “Two of these facilities have yet to submit data for March 3, so this is an underestimation,” MSF said. It added that 15 of the 20 hospitals and clinics that MSF supports have been hit by bombing or shelling, with varying degrees of damage.

    “The numbers alone speak volumes. But even more telling are the words we hear from the medics we are supporting on the ground,” said MSF Director General Meinie Nicolai. “Daily, we hear an increasing sense of hopelessness and despair, as our medical colleagues reach the limits of what a person can be expected to do.”

    Government forces this week advanced from the east and were less than a mile away from linking with forces on the western side of eastern Ghouta and cutting the rebel-held district in half.

    The military gains have caused wide-scale internal displacement as civilians flee government advances toward areas in the territory still held by the rebels.

    Nearly 400,000 people are believed to be inside eastern Ghouta. The most built-up and densely populated areas still under rebel control include the towns of Douma, Harasta, Jisreen, Kfar Batna, Saqba and Hammouriyeh.

    The Observatory reported airstrikes on Douma and Jisreen just before the 13-truck convoy arrived Friday, following an hourslong lull. It said the lull was result of local negotiations brokered by unnamed Damascus businessmen with the government to try and reach a solution that would secure the exit of fighters and civilians from eastern Ghouta.

    The Observatory and the opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, reported that airstrikes and shelling resumed late Friday afternoon on eastern Ghouta. They said at least five people were killed in Friday’s bombardment of the town of Jisreen.

    The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said the United Nations has “failed spectacularly” when it comes to Syria.

    Speaking at a press conference in Beirut, he said people in eastern Ghouta are terrified.

    “They do not know anymore. Some say I want to stay, some say I want to go but both options have become dangerous, this is what makes me so anguished,” he said.

    State-run Syrian TV on Friday reported that “dozens of civilians” would likely get out of eastern Ghouta, in addition to 13 gunmen who had turned themselves in, via the Wafideen safe corridor designated by the government. The channel has been reporting since last week that rebels have prevented civilians from leaving.

    State TV later said that insurgents targeted the Wafideen corridor on Friday afternoon with bullets and mortar shells to prevent people from leaving.

    The Observatory, which monitors the Syria war through a network of activists on the ground, also reported that dozens of people from the town of Hammouriyeh in eastern Ghouta staged a demonstration, carrying Syrian government flags and calling for the end to the fighting in the area.

    There was no confirmation by any of the rebel groups based in eastern Ghouta of negotiations to leave eastern Ghouta.

  • Pakistan official: U.S. should end Afghanistan war with Taliban

    The United States must abandon any hope of winning the war in Afghanistan on the battlefield and seek a peace deal with the Taliban, Pakistan’s top national security official said Tuesday.

    ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The United States must abandon any hope of winning the war in Afghanistan on the battlefield and seek a peace deal with the Taliban, Pakistan’s top national security official said Tuesday.

    “End the suffering of Afghanistan and of its people. Let us seek the closure of the conflict instead of winning it,” Pakistani National Security Adviser Nasser Khan Janjua, a former army general, said during an exclusive roundtable with reporters in the Pakistani capital.

    President Trump’s blueprint released last summer for the Afghanistan conflict, now in its 17th year, called for an escalated American military effort to force the radical Islamist Taliban to the bargaining table, but Mr. Trump questioned the idea of negotiations after a string of deadly Taliban and Islamic State strikes this year.

    The State Department says the U.S. government backs a peace process proposed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Feb. 28 that would allow the Taliban to organize as a political party if it agrees to end its insurgency and joins the political process. The U.S. has consistently rejected the Taliban’s demands for direct talks between Washington and the terrorist group and the immediate withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan.

    Mr. Janjua called for the U.S. to forgo any hope of military victory amid reports that the U.S.-backed government in Kabul controls less than 60 percent of the war-torn country in the face of a resurgent Taliban.

    “It is not possible for the U.S. to win back 44 percent of Afghanistan,” he said, speaking at Pakistan’s National Security Division headquarters. “Let us resolve [the war] politically. Let us reconcile. How long do we want to continue to fight in Afghanistan?”

    Tensions between Islamabad and Washington soared in recent months in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s hard-line rhetoric against Pakistan’s role in the war on terrorist groups in South Asia, capped by a sharp cut in U.S. aid and military support programs in January.

    Members of the Financial Action Task Force, an international regulatory group combating terrorism financing, last month voted to put Pakistan on its watch list over its inability to curtail known terrorist groups’ funding and operations. The move could severely restrict foreign investment and movement of capital in and out of the country, Islamabad argues.

    Pakistan has rejected the criticism, citing its aggressive, costly four-year counterterrorism campaign against extremist groups along the volatile Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

    “We have already paid a heavy price,” Mr. Janjua said.

    Pakistan wants to repair relations with the Trump administration, he said, but is also prepared to take a step back from the U.S. and its regional goals in South Asia should the White House impose further economic sanctions or restrictions on the country’s armed forces.

    “Any unilateral action by the U.S. against Pakistan will create a huge, huge difficulty for us, and we will not be able to support the U.S.” in Afghanistan and the region, he said. Conversely, the White House’s embrace of a new peace road map in Afghanistan could bring the two longtime allies closer together.

    “Peace in Afghanistan means peace in Pakistan. Both countries have been suffering,” Mr. Janjua said. “This is the way forward. This is way to reduce the violence.”

    Mr. Ghani, who faces a national election in July, said late last month that he was ready to offer the Taliban a political role in the Afghan government, including the establishment of a political office in Kabul, should the organization’s leaders join stalled peace talks, an approach Mr. Janjua said was long overdue.

    “Why could he not have done this three years before?” he asked. “Ashraf Ghani has done a great thing” with the peace offer.

    While supporting Afghanistan peace talks that include the Taliban, Alice Wells, the State Department’s top diplomat on South and Central Asian affairs, flatly ruled out any support for bilateral talks between the Taliban and Washington.

    Mr. Ghani’s plan “is not a surrender that’s being offered to the Taliban, but a dignified process for reaching a political framework,” she told a group of reporters Tuesday, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    Mr. Janjua urged Washington to be more flexible in dealing with the Taliban.

    “That is the U.S. way of thinking, so what can we do?” Mr. Janjua said regarding Washington’s opposition to face-to-face talks with the Taliban.

    An Afghanistan peace conference has been scheduled for late March in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.

  • Violence halts rare aid delivery to Syria’s eastern Ghouta

    The first aid delivery in weeks to reach the besieged eastern suburbs of Damascus was cut short after Syrian government forces began shelling the area while aid workers were still inside, a local coun

    BEIRUT (AP) — The first aid delivery in weeks to reach the besieged eastern suburbs of Damascus was cut short after Syrian government forces began shelling the area while aid workers were still inside, a local council said on Tuesday.

    Monday’s shipment was the first to enter eastern Ghouta amid weeks of a crippling siege and a government assault that has killed hundreds of civilians since February 18.

    The International Committee for the Red Cross confirmed that its joint convoy with the United Nations had to leave before offloading all its supplies on account of the deteriorating security situation.

    Ingy Sedky, the ICRC spokeswoman in Syria, said most of the aid from a 46-truck convoy was delivered to the town of Douma in eastern Ghouta but the mission was cut short before the rest of the supplies could be unloaded.

    Iyad Abdelaziz, a member of the Douma Local Council, said nine aid trucks had to leave the area after government shelling and airstrikes intensified in the evening.

    At least 50 civilians were killed Monday by shelling and airstrikes in eastern Ghouta as the Syrian government, backed by Russia’s military, showed no signs of easing its assault on the beleaguered region, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution passed Feb. 25 demanding a 30-day cease-fire.

    The convoy that reached Douma on Monday carried only a fraction of the relief needed for the estimated 400,000 people trapped under the government’s siege. The U.N.’s humanitarian office said the convoy carried food for 27,500 people.

    But it said the Syrian government offloaded 70 percent of the health supplies, including trauma and surgical kits and insulin, before allowing the convoy to enter eastern Ghouta.

    The government routinely removes lifesaving medical supplies from aid convoys, in a pattern of denying such aid to civilians living in opposition areas. U.N. officials have complained for years about such actions by the Syrian government.

  • Probe finds deadly Niger mission lacked proper approval

    A military investigation into the Niger attack that killed four American service members concludes the team didn’t get required senior command approval for their risky mission to capture a high-level

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A military investigation into the Niger attack that killed four American service members concludes the team didn’t get required senior command approval for their risky mission to capture a high-level Islamic State militant, several U.S. officials familiar with the report said. It doesn’t point to that failure as a cause of the deadly ambush.

    Initial information suggested the Army Special Forces team set out on its October mission to meet local Nigerien leaders, only to be redirected to assist a second unit hunting for Doundou Chefou, a militant suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an American aid worker. Officials say it now appears the team went after Chefou from the onset, without outlining that intent to higher-level commanders.

    As a result, commanders couldn’t accurately assess the mission’s risk, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the results of the investigation before they’re publicly released. The finding will likely increase scrutiny on U.S. military activity in Africa, particularly the role of special operations forces who’ve been advising and working with local troops on the continent for years.

    Four U.S. soldiers and four Nigerien troops were killed Oct. 4 about 120 miles (200 kilometers) north of Niamey, Niger’s capital, when they were attacked by as many as 100 Islamic State-linked militants traveling by vehicle and carrying small arms and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Two other American soldiers and eight Nigerien forces were wounded.

    The investigation finds no single point of failure leading to the attack, which occurred after the soldiers learned Chefou had left the area, checked his last known location and started for home. It also draws no conclusion about whether villagers in Tongo Tongo, where the team stopped for water and supplies, alerted IS militants to American forces in the area. Still, questions remain about whether higher-level commanders – if given the chance – would have approved or adjusted the mission, or provided additional resources that could have helped repel the ambush.

    Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, wouldn’t comment on the investigation, beyond saying it’s now complete and being reviewed by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other senior leaders.

    The other U.S. officials said the final report could have consequences for U.S. military operations in Africa.

    Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the Africa Command’s leader, is expected to recommend greater oversight to ensure proper mission approval and risk assessment, they said. Waldhauser isn’t expected to scale back missions in Africa or remove commanders’ authorities to make decisions. He is slated to testify before a House committee Tuesday.

    The incident is likely to trigger discussions about improved security measures, too, including heavier armored vehicles, better communications and improved individual trackers to make it easier to find missing troops.

    Top Africa Command officials, led by its chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Roger Cloutier Jr., have spent months trying to unravel the complex incident, conducting dozens of interviews across the U.S., Europe and Africa.

    U.S. and Nigerien officials say the troops received intelligence about Chefou’s location and acted on what was likely considered a fleeting chance to get him, or at least gather valuable intelligence on the American hostage.

    It’s unclear where Chefou was believed to be. But before arriving at that location, the U.S.-Nigerien team learned he had left. The troops traveled on to the site to collect any remaining information there. A second U.S. commando team assigned to the mission was unable to go because of weather problems.

    One Nigerien official said the troops that reached the destination found food and a motorcycle. They destroyed the motorcycle. The team then headed home, the official said, but stopped in Tongo Tongo to get supplies.

    The U.S. investigation notes the team stayed at Tongo Tongo longer than normal, but says there is no compelling evidence to conclude a villager or anyone else deliberately delayed their departure or betrayed them by alerting militants.

    The Nigerien official said Abou Walid Sahraoui, an IS leader in the region, heard the team had visited the site of Chefou’s last known location. He then dispatched about 20 fighters to pursue the U.S. and Nigerien troops. A larger group of militants followed later, said the official, who also would only discuss the matter on condition of anonymity. U.S. officials couldn’t corroborate that information.

    Shortly after leaving Tongo Tongo, U.S. and Nigerien forces were attacked and eventually overrun by the IS ambush. Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Florida, became separated from the others as he fought and ran for cover in the brush. He was gunned down, but his body wasn’t found until two days later.

    The other three Americans killed were Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Washington; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Georgia. Black and Wright were Army Special Forces. Johnson and Johnson weren’t Green Berets; the others were.

    The U.S. troops called for help using the code “Broken Arrow,” which signals they were in imminent danger, officials said. They then followed procedures and shut down their radios to prevent the enemies from using them. As a result, they couldn’t communicate quickly with French aircraft sent in to rescue them. Some footage of the gruesome battle, taken off one of the U.S. soldier’s helmet cameras, surfaced in recent days in an IS propaganda video posted online.

    Officials said the procedural breakdown meant the overall mission lacked the higher-level command approval necessary to go after a senior militant. Such missions require approval by senior Special Operations Command officers who would’ve been in Chad or at Africa Command’s headquarters in Germany.

    The reporting failure meant those commanders lacked a complete picture of what the unit was doing, so concluded the mission was unlikely to encounter enemy forces. Had the unit gotten proper oversight and approvals, officials said, it might have been better equipped or included additional personnel more capable of sustaining a fight.

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    Baba Ahmed in Bamako, Mali, contributed to this report.

  • L.L. Bean raises age to 21 to buy rifles

    Outdoor retailer L.L. Bean will no longer sell rifles to anyone under 21.

    SEATTLE (AP) — Outdoor retailer L.L. Bean will no longer sell rifles to anyone under 21.

    The company joined retail heavyweights Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods in changing policies in the wake of the Florida school massacre.

    L.L. Bean said in a statement late Thursday that it will no longer sell guns or ammunition to anyone under the age of 21.

    Company spokeswoman Carolyn Beem says L.L. Bean only sells firearms at its flagship store in Maine and only guns specific to hunting and target shooting.

    She says L.L. Bean does not carry assault-style firearms, high-capacity firearms, bump stocks or handguns of any kind.

    The announcements come two weeks after a teenager killed 17 students and educators with an AR-15 rifle in Florida.

  • U.S. Navy carrier’s visit to Vietnam puts China on notice

    For the first time since the Vietnam War, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier is paying a visit to a Vietnamese port, seeking to bolster both countries’ efforts to stem expansionism by China in the South Chi

    DANANG, Vietnam (AP) — For the first time since the Vietnam War, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier is paying a visit to a Vietnamese port, seeking to bolster both countries’ efforts to stem expansionism by China in the South China Sea.

    Monday’s visit by the USS Carl Vinson brings more than 5,000 crewmembers to the central coastal city of Danang, the largest such U.S. military presence in Vietnam since the Southeast Asian nation was unified under Communist leadership after the war ended in 1975.

    The Carl Vinson, accompanied by a cruiser and a destroyer, is visiting as China increases its military buildup in the Paracel islands and seven artificial islands in the Spratlys in maritime territory also claimed by Vietnam. China claims most of the South China Sea and has challenged traditional U.S. naval supremacy in the western Pacific.

    SEE ALSO: China’s influence to be major focus of Rex Tillerson’s Africa trip

    “The visit of aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to Vietnam signifies an increased level of trust between the two former enemies, a strengthened defense relationship between them, and reflects America’s continued naval engagement with the region,” said Le Hong Hiep, a research fellow at the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

    The ship’s mission includes technical exchanges, sports matches and visits to an orphanage and a center for victims of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant sprayed by U.S. forces to deny cover for Communist fighters during the war. It marks a fine-tuning, rather than a turning point, in relations. The U.S. Navy has staged activities in Vietnam for its Pacific Partnership humanitarian and civic missions in nine of the past 12 years.

    U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink praised the carrier’s visit.

    “I think the visit by USS Carl Vinson demonstrates our commitment to the U.S- Vietnam partnership. It also demonstrates the dramatic progress we made in our bilateral relationship in recent years,” he said.

    The ambassador said the two countries share a range of interests that include “a desire to maintain peace, prosperity, unimpeded commerce, freedom of navigation upon which the region and its economies depend.”

    The United States normalized relations with Vietnam in 1995 and lifted an arms embargo in 2016, and the two former adversaries have steadily improved relations in all areas, including trade, investment and security.

    The visit of an aircraft carrier – a more than 100,000-ton manifestation of U.S. global military projection – reaffirms closer relations as Beijing flexes it political, economic and military muscle in Southeast Asia, and Washington seeks to re-establish its influence.

    “Although the visit is mainly symbolic and would not be able to change China’s behavior, especially in the South China Sea, it is still necessary in conveying the message that the U.S. will be there to stay,” Hiep said.

    Separately from this week’s mission, U.S. officials say American warships continue sailing without prior notice close to China-occupied islands and atolls, an aggressive way of signaling to Beijing that the U.S. does not recognize its sovereignty over those areas.

    Hiep said the Carl Vinson’s visit is likely to irritate China, but that Beijing will not take it too seriously.

    “They understand well the strategic rationale behind the rapprochement between Vietnam and the U.S., which was largely driven by China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea,” he said. “However, China also knows that Vietnam is unlikely to side with the U.S. militarily to challenge China.”

    Vietnam, while traditionally wary of its huge northern neighbor, shares China’s system of single-party rule and intolerance for political dissent.

    Economic relations with the United States in recent years have served as a counterbalance to Vietnam’s political affinity with China.

    “The United States now is a very important trading partner with Vietnam and it is the most important destination of Vietnam’s exports,” said Joseph Cheng, a professor of political science at the City University of Hong Kong. “In terms of security, both countries certainly share substantial common interest in the containment of China in view of the territorial dispute between China and Vietnam.”

    “However, it seems that Vietnam does not intend to become an ally of the United States. It is basically a kind of hedging strategy, a kind of balance of power strategy,” he said.

    The first U.S. Marines arrived in Danang in 1965, marking the beginning of large-scale American involvement in the Vietnam War. Some 58,000 American soldiers and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese were killed in the war.

    Danang, which was a major U.S. military base during the war, is now Vietnam’s third-largest city and is in the midst of a construction boom as dozens of resorts and hotels pop up along its scenic coastline.

    Several Danang residents said Monday that they welcomed the Navy visit.

    “During the war, I was scared when I saw American soldiers,” said Tran Thi Luyen, 55, who runs a small coffee shop in the city. “Now the aircraft carrier comes with a completely different mission, a mission of peace and promoting economic and military cooperation between the two countries.”

    Huynh Quang Nguyen, a taxi driver, echoed the sentiment.

    “I’m very happy and excited with the carrier’s visit,” he said. “Increased cooperation between the two countries in economic, diplomatic and military areas would serve as a counterbalance to Beijing’s expansionism.”

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    This story has been corrected to show that ship has more than 5,000 crewmembers, not 6,000.

  • NATO rejects Putin’s ‘unacceptable’ threats to target allies

    NATO says Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to target its members are unacceptable and that the military alliance will continue using its armed forces to deter aggression.

    BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO says Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to target its members are unacceptable and that the military alliance will continue using its armed forces to deter aggression.

    NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Friday that “Russian statements threatening to target allies are unacceptable and counterproductive.”

    Putin said Thursday that Moscow has tested an array of new strategic nuclear weapons that can’t be intercepted, telling the West: “You have failed to contain Russia.”

    Lungescu said NATO’s missile defense system is built to respond to attacks from outside Europe and North America and not directed against Russia.

    Noting Russia’s “aggressive actions” in Ukraine and military buildup around Europe, she said: “NATO is pursuing a twin-track approach to Russia: strong deterrence and defense, combined with meaningful dialogue.”

  • Explosions, gunfire rock Burkina Faso’s capital

    Gunfire and explosions rocked Burkina Faso’s capital early Friday in what the police said was a suspected attack by Islamic extremists.

    OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Gunfire and explosions rocked Burkina Faso’s capital early Friday in what the police said was a suspected attack by Islamic extremists.

    By midday the gunfire became intermittent and helicopters flew over the French Embassy in Ouagadougou. Witnesses at the national television office which faces the French Embassy told The Associated Press that five people came in a pick-up truck in front of the embassy and started shooting after saying “Allahu Akhbar.” They then set fire to the truck and began shooting.

    Heavy smoke rose from the army joint chief of staff’s office in Ouagadougou, and witnesses said loud explosions were still heard around the military headquarters in the western part of the capital’s city center and far from the other area under attack that houses the embassies, the prime minister’s office and United Nations offices.

    Burkina Faso’s police director general Jean Bosco Kienou told AP “the form is that of a terrorist attack.”

    Plumes of black smoke could be seen above the army offices in western Ouagadougou where police and gendarmerie responded. Barricades were erected to keep people from all areas under assault.

    Burkina Faso’s police said the defense and security forces are responding to attacks around the Prime Minister’s office and the United Nations.

    France’s foreign affairs ministry published a message on their website warning of gunfire in the capital, and said that security forces are now intervening and enhanced security measures could be taken by authorities. It recommended people stay off the streets and remain in a safe place.

    Ouagadougou has been attacked by Islamic extremists targeting foreigners at least twice in the past few years.

    In August, extremists opened fire as patrons dined on a Sunday night at the Aziz Istanbul restaurant, killing at least 18 people. In January 2016, Islamic extremists attacked another cafe popular with foreigners in the capital, killing 30 people.

    Both times security forces have struggled to contain the violence, waiting for hours before intervening at the scene.

    Islamic extremist threats also moved into new parts of Burkina Faso earlier this month with an attack by 10 people in an eastern town that killed an officer and wounded two others. Increased attacks staged at the border with Mali have forced thousands to flee over the past year. An Australian doctor who had spent decades treating civilians was also abducted along this border and remains missing.

    The region is also now the home of a Burkina Faso extremist figure, Malam Dicko, who has collaborated with militants across the border in Mali. Among his objectives has been seeking to end the use of French, the former colonizer’s language, in regional schools. Burkinabe forces backed by French military counterparts have tried to capture Dicko but he remains at large.

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    Associated Press writer Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

  • Angela Merkel, Donald Trump discuss Syrian cease-fire, Vladimir Putin’s new weapons

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump about Syria, and both sides agreed that Syrian government forces and their Russian and Iranian allies must abide by a U.N. S

    BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump about Syria, and both sides agreed that Syrian government forces and their Russian and Iranian allies must abide by a U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolution, her office said Friday.

    Following their call Thursday, Merkel and Trump urged Russia to stop participating in the bombardment of Damascus’ rebel-held suburbs known as eastern Ghouta, according to her office.

    “The five-hour cease-fire announced by the Russian side isn’t being adhered to. The Syrian regime in particular is constantly breaking it,” Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told reporters.

    Germany appeals “to all parties to the conflict to fully implement this U.N. resolution and we see a particular responsibility on the part of Russia,” he added.

    Seibert said attacks should stop for 48 to 72 hours in order for aid to be effectively delivered to civilians. He called it “particularly cynical that the regime in Damascus used chlorine gas against its own population again just one day after the passing of the U.N. resolution.”

    According to Merkel’s office, both she and Trump also expressed concern about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unveiling of new weapons systems Thursday “and their negative consequences for international arms control efforts.”

    Seibert said Germany watched Putin’s announcement with concern, noting the Russia’s military modernization program and what he described as doubts about Moscow’s adherence to international treaties, its annexation of Crimea and threats against some of its neighbors.

    Still, Seibert said Berlin was always ready to talk with the Kremlin even when the two sides differ significantly on the issues.