NEWS OF THE DAY
1 U.S. troops deployed: A Syrian war monitor and Kurdish activists say U.S. armored vehicles have deployed in areas in northern Syria along the border with Turkey, a few days after a Turkish air strike killed 20 U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters. Footage posted by Syrian activists online shows a convoy of U.S. armored vehicles driving on a rural road in the village of Darbasiyah, a few hundred yards from the Turkish border. Clashes in the area were reported between Turkish and Kurdish forces Wednesday a day after the Turkish air strike. Col. John Dorrian, a U.S. spokesman for the international coalition against the Islamic State, declined to comment, saying troop movement is “ongoing.”
2 NATO vote: Montenegro’s parliament on Friday supported the Balkan country’s membership in NATO in a historic turn toward the West amid protests by Russia and the pro-Russia opposition. Lawmakers voted 46-0 in the capital of Cetinje to ratify the accession treaty with the Western military alliance. They then stood up and applauded the decision. Montenegro has a small military of around 2,000 troops, but it is strategically positioned to give NATO full control over the Adriatic Sea. The other Adriatic nations — Albania, Croatia and Italy — already are in the alliance.
3 Violent protest: Dozens of Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli soldiers at demonstrations across the West Bank Friday in support of hundreds of prisoners observing the 12th day of an open-ended hunger strike, Palestinian health officials said. Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Anas Diek said three people were hospitalized, including one who was shot in the head by a rubber bullet and another who was hit in the knee by a tear gas canister. Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently in Israeli lockups. Israel calls them security prisoners — held for offenses ranging from stone throwing to carrying out attacks that killed or wounded Israeli civilians and soldiers. Palestinians say between 1,300 and 1,500 prisoners have been on a hunger strike for 12 days demanding better conditions.
4 Spring offensive: The Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive on Friday, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced the launch of the offensive in an emailed statement that boasted of Taliban control over more than half of the country, referring to a February report issued by Washington’s special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction. That report said the Afghan government had control or influence over only 52 percent of Afghanistan’s 407 districts last year, down from 63.4 percent previously.
5 Sweden attack: A woman in her 60s who was injured in the April 7 truck attack in Stockholm has died, Swedish authorities said Friday, raising the death toll to five. Marie Kide, an elected member of the city council in Trollhattan near Goteborg, was 66. A 39-year-old Uzbek man, Rakhmat Akilov, has pleaded guilty to a terrorist crime for ramming the truck into a crowd on a busy pedestrian shopping street in the Swedish capital. Police have not disclosed a motive for the attack and no extremist group has claimed responsibility for it. The attack shocked Sweden, known for its welcoming policy toward migrants and refugees. Chronicle News Services