500 migrants removed from Paris camp
PARIS — French police removed about 500 migrants from a makeshift tent encampment in central Paris at dawn Monday. In the operation near Canal Saint Martin, buses transported the migrants to lodgings in the Paris region, where they can pursue asylum requests. Some of the migrants were hopeful the move will help them get certainty about their future. James Okafor, who said he fled his home country of Nigeria after being attacked, said he “will be very happy to leave the camp” because it will help him meet officials who will decide whether he can stay in France. Others, like an Afghan who gave his name only as Desajan, were apprehensive. “All people in here don’t know other languages — French, English. They don’t know what to do,” he said. A smaller camp at Porte de Poissonniere was also cleared out Monday morning.
U.S., its allies criticized for Syria fight
BEIRUT — An international human-rights group today accused the U.S. and its allies of showing little regard for civilians’ lives while attacking the Syrian city that was once the capital of the Islamic State extremist group, an allegation denied by the American military. Amnesty International said the U.S.-led coalition’s 2017 assault on Raqqa killed hundreds of civilians and reduced sections of the city to rubble. Researchers for Amnesty interviewed more than 100 residents and visited 42 coalition targets in the city in a twoweek period in February. They published their findings in a report titled “War of Annihilation,” in a reference to the language used by U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in the lead-up to the campaign. U.S. Army Col. Sean Ryan, spokesman for the coalition, called the assertions “grossly inaccurate.” He said the coalition and allied Syrian forces organized safe passages for residents to flee but that Islamic State militants trapped them inside to use as human shields. “When you have an enemy that uses noncombatants as collateral damage, it’s very difficult when you fight an enemy like that to completely avoid any casualties,” Ryan said.
6 militants killed attacking Pakistan
ISLAMABAD — Pakistani security forces said they have killed six militants and thwarted seven attempts to target military posts in a northwestern tribal region and a border village in the southwest near Afghanistan. Five soldiers were wounded in two cross-border attacks Sunday in the Bajur tribal region and in the village of Qamar Din Qarez in Baluchistan province. The military said in a statement Sunday that its troops repelled both attacks. A security official said Monday that the troops who were targeted had been fencing the border to curb the militants’ movement. Pakistan since 2017 has been constructing fences along the border with Afghanistan, a move opposed by the Afghans. Afghanistan does not recognize the boundary, known as the Durand Line, which was drawn by British rulers in 1896.
Israel to deduct from Palestinian funds
JERUSALEM — Israel has announced plans to deduct tax funds it collects for the Palestinians and to use the money to compensate Israelis living near the Gaza Strip who have fallen victim to a wave of arson attacks. Israel has been battling fires caused by kites rigged with incendiary devices or attached to burning rags launched by Palestinians in Gaza. The fires have damaged forests, torched agricultural fields and disrupted daily life in communities near the Gaza Strip. Israel collects some taxes and customs on behalf of the Palestinians, which it transfers monthly. It has previously threatened to withhold the tax money over Palestinian actions it opposes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted on Sunday that he had asked for the deduction. The Palestinian Authority slammed the move, saying it violates past agreements and calling it “robbery and cowardly aggression” against the Palestinians.
A Section on 06/05/2018