Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Death toll from Kharkiv attack climbs
Ukraine's president has condemned what he called a Russian strike that the region's governor said killed at least six people and wounded 16 in Ukraine's Kharkiv as "despicable and cynical".
"Unfortunately the number of deaths and injuries following the bombardment... has increased: six people died and 16 were wounded," regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram.
"We will not forgive, we will take revenge," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
NATO calls for ‘urgent’ inspection of Ukraine nuclear plant
It is "urgent" that the UN's atomic watchdog be allowed to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine that is under Russian military control, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said.
Russia's seizure of the plant "poses a serious threat to the safety and the security of this facility (and) raises the risks of a nuclear accident or incident," he told reporters in Brussels.
"It is urgent to allow the inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency and to ensure the withdrawal of all Russian forces," he said.
Chinese military will send troops to Russia for joint exercise
Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in a joint exercise with Russia and other countries including India, Belarus and Tajikistan, the Chinese Defence Ministry has said.
Russian Black Sea fleet names new commander
Russia's Black Sea fleet based in annexed Crimea has named Viktor Sokolov as its new commander, RIA news agency has cited sources as saying.
The appointment followed blasts at Russian military bases in Crimea last week and on Tuesday.
Russian missile strikes leave several people injured in Odessa region — Ukrainian officials pic.twitter.com/68dJnIdrga
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) August 17, 2022
Ex-Soviet weapons lab revamps testing facility
A major weapons lab in Russia has revamped its testing facility after it was mothballed following the fall of the Soviet Union, state news agency TASS has reported, citing the company's press service.
TsNIITochMash, which conducts research and designs arms including anti-tank missiles and rifles for Russia's military, told TASS the revamped lab would be able to test ballistic weapons and small-calibre artillery in extreme cold temperatures.
In a speech opening an arms show on Monday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to sell advanced weapons to its allies and cooperate with others in developing military technology.
Ukraine official calls for Crimea bridge to be ‘dismantled’
A senior Ukrainian official has called for Moscow's main bridge connecting the Russia-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland to be "dismantled," in the wake of several attacks on the peninsula.
The 19-kilometre bridge inaugurated in 2018 by Russian President Vladimir Putin is Moscow's key military and civilian land corridor to the annexed peninsula.
"The bridge is an illegal object," presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said on social media. It "must therefore be dismantled. Not important how — voluntary or not."
UN chief Antonio Guterres, Türkiye's President Erdogan, and his Ukrainian counterpart Zelenskyy will discuss in Ukraine the need for a political solution to the Ukrainian conflict, says UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric pic.twitter.com/ebvvc3QGVs
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) August 17, 2022
Four more grain ships leave Ukrainian ports
Four more ships have left Ukrainian ports under the Istanbul grain export deal, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said.
Ships carrying sunflower meal, sunflower oil and corn departed from the Ukrainian ports of Odessa and Chornomorsk, the ministry said on Twitter.
Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal last month to resume grain exports from the Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Yuzhny, Chornomorsk and Odessa, which were halted due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
EU looks to Russian tourist visa ban
Active discussions are continuing among several European Union member states on the need to ban tourist visas for Russian citizens amid the Ukraine conflict.
Through this ban, the EU hopes to increase pressure on Moscow and bring an end to its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
A draft decision on the ban was put forth for consideration as part of the seventh package of sanctions adopted by the European Council last month.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan set to travel to Ukraine's Lviv on Thursday to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UN chief Antonio Guterres pic.twitter.com/yKnXLMiTz1
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) August 17, 2022
North Korea, Russia-backed separatists to develop 'bilateral cooperation'
North Korea and the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk region of Ukraine will develop "equally beneficial bilateral cooperation", Donetsk separatist head Denis Pushilin has said in a letter to Kim Jong-un, North Korean state media reported.
In July, North Korea recognised the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region, as independent states.
Pushilin wrote a letter to congratulate Kim on the August 15 Korean liberation day, state news agency KCNA reported, two days after reporting a similar message from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Kim.
"The people of the Donbas region, too, are fighting to regain their freedom and justice of history today just as the Korean people did 77 years ago," the report cited Pushilin's letter as saying.
For live updates from Tuesday (August 16), click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
A mother and son were shot outside Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand, Johannesburg.
A parent who witnessed the shooting of a 9-year-old boy and his mother outside the Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand, Johannesburg, carried the child's bloodied body to the school clinic to save his life, but he succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter.
Two unknown assailants shot the Grade 3 pupil and his mother, 41, multiple times on Tuesday afternoon.
The woman had fetched her son and daughter, 13, from school when the men fired several shots at them and their vehicle.
The girl was unharmed.
When New24 arrived at Nizamiye Primary and High School, the scene had been cleared. Law enforcement officers and forensic experts had finalised their preliminary investigation and were seen leaving the premises.
They said they were not able to share any details about the incident.
'Everybody is shaken'
School principal Ramzi Hasanli told News24 he was not at the school when the deadly shooting occurred about 100 metres from the main gate.
He said parents who had come to fetch their children and pupils witnessed the incident.
"One of the parents who witnessed the shooting carried the body [of the 9-year-old boy] to the clinic. The child died at the clinic, and [forensic experts have] now taken him for a post-mortem investigation. Everybody is shaken. It's very tragic," said Hasanli.
According to Hasanli, the 13-year-old girl is a Grade 7 pupil at the school. She was safe and with her relatives.
Due to the sensitivity of the investigation, and to protect the identity of the 13-year-old pupil, her mother and brother cannot be identified.
The 41-year-old woman is being treatment at a Johannesburg hospital for gunshot wounds.
Hasanli said none of the eyewitnesses recognised the vehicle used by the assailants and they could not confirm how many gunshots were fired.
He said there were five visible gunshots to the woman's vehicle.
He said teaching would continue through the week and that pupils who had witnessed the incident would receive counselling from the South African Depression and Anxiety Group and the Department of Education's psychological unit.
"It will be difficult for working parents to make urgent arrangements to keep the children at home so the school will operate... In the next few days, we will discuss what [safety] measures will be taken," he said.
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Mavela Masondo said details of the shooting were sketchy. He said police were yet to arrest the two attackers who sped off after the shooting.
"A case of murder and attempted murder has been open for investigation," said Masondo.
Fast News
At least 13 people have been killed and five injured in a collision between a passenger van and a truck in eastern Pakistan.
The accident took place on a highway in Rahim Yar Khan on Saturday, a district in Punjab province, some 590 kilometres from the provincial capital Lahore.
The speeding truck overturned and rammed into the ill-fated van, which was carrying 18 passengers, including women and children, according to rescue officials.
Deadly accidents
Fatal road accidents are common in the South Asian country, mainly due to lax safety and infrastructure standards.
In June, a speeding bus veered off a narrow mountain road and plummeted into a ravine in a remote area of southwest Pakistan, killing 22 passengers including women and children.
In July 202, a jam-packed bus carrying mostly labourers traveling home for a major Muslim holiday rammed into a container truck on a busy highway in central Pakistan, killing at least 33 people.
Source: AA
Fast News
Israel's forces have killed two Palestinians in the city of Nablus in occupied West Bank, Palestinian media has reported, two days after deadly Israeli air strikes on Gaza was halted by a truce.
At least 30 Palestinians were wounded as Israeli troops raided a house in Nablus on Tuesday, according to the Red Crescent.
"Israeli army and special forces are surrounding the house of a wanted man in Nablus. There is exchange of fire," the Israel's military said in a statement.
Gunfire was traded in the old city of Nablus, according to AFP news agency. Trouble also broke out in other parts of Nablus.
Israeli security forces have conducted frequent operations in occupied West Bank in recent months, focusing on operatives from the Islamic Jihad group.
On Friday, Israel launched what it called a "pre-emptive" aerial and artillery bombardment of Islamic Jihad positions in besieged Gaza, leading the armed group there to fire rockets in retaliation.
An Egypt-brokered ceasefire reached on Sunday ended three days of Israeli bombardment that killed 46 Palestinians, 16 of them children, and wounded 360, according to Gaza's health ministry.
READ MORE: Palestine demands protection against Israel's 'unprovoked' attacks
READ MORE: Gaza crossing opens as ceasefire holds between Israel, Palestinian group
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Fast News
Palestine's Islamic Jihad in Gaza have confirmed that they agreed to a Cairo-brokered truce after three days of intense aggression by Israel that has left at least 41 Palestinians in Gaza dead.
"A short while ago the wording of the Egyptian truce agreement was reached, which contains Egypt's commitment to work towards the release of two prisoners, (Bassem) al Saadi and (Khalil) Awawdeh," senior Islamic Jihad member Mohammad al Hindi said in a statement on Sunday.
The ceasefire is to start at 23:30 local time (20:30GMT), sources told Anadolu Agency.
Turkish Foreign Ministry on Israeli aggression against Gaza and Al Aqsa Mosque:
- Condemns attacks against civilians in Gaza
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) August 7, 2022
- Fanatic Jewish groups raided Al Aqsa Mosque which is under protection of Israeli police
- Calls on Israeli government not to allow such actions pic.twitter.com/SpoXFUitBw
Dozens of Palestinians killed
At least 43 Palestinians were reported dead on Sunday, including 15 children, according to the Health Ministry.
The latest Israeli aggression since Friday has also left at least 311 civilians wounded, said the health authorities in Gaza, where several buildings were reduced to rubble.
Meanwhile, the United Nations' Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territories, Lynn Hastings, called for an immediate halt to escalation and violence in Gaza.
In a statement on Sunday, Hastings said Gaza's humanitarian situation "is already dire and can only worsen" with the current escalation.
“Hostilities must stop to avoid more deaths and injuries of civilians in Gaza and Israel,” she added.
The humanitarian coordinator reiterated the UN appeal to all sides "for an immediate de-escalation and halt to violence to avoid destructive ramifications, particularly for civilians."
READ MORE: Hundreds of Israeli settlers storm Al Aqsa complex
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Fast News
At least 12 people have died and 43 suffered injuries, 18 of them seriously, after a Poland-registered bus skidded from a highway in northern Croatia.
The bus was traveling in the direction of Zagreb, Croatia's capital, on Saturday.
"All the victims are Polish citizens — we can at this point confirm this," a Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Polish private broadcaster TVN24. "The bus has Warsaw registration plates."
“Representatives of our embassy are going to the scene of the accident. The Croatian deputy prime minister and the minister of internal affairs are also going,” the spokesperson, Lukasz Jasina, said.
The broadcaster showed video of a smashed blue bus in a ditch next to the highway.
The accident happened around 5:40 am (0340 GMT), some 50 kilometres north of Zagreb, on the A-4 highway, which is busy during the peak of the tourist season.
The passengers were adult pilgrims who were travelling to Medjugorje, a Roman Catholic shrine in southern Bosnia, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic told reporters.
The most likely cause of the crash was the driver falling asleep, authorities said. Rescue teams were sent to the location of the accident, Croatian media reported. An investigation into the cause of the accident was under way.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-879c7KL4A[/embed]
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Israel has hit Gaza with air strikes for a second day, drawing retaliation from an armed Palestinian group, in the territory's worst escalation of violence since a war last year.
Israeli aircraft continued striking the besieged territory on Saturday, a day after the Palestinian Health Ministry said bombardment there killed 10 people, including a child.
Israel says it has launched a "pre-emptive" operation against the Islamic Jihad group. Israel's army estimates that its operations have killed 15 fighters in Gaza, including a senior commander.
Early on Saturday, Israel broadened its operation against Islamic Jihad. The Israeli army announced the arrest of 19 people it said were members of the group in the occupied West Bank, alongside the arrest of one other person.
Israel and Islamic Jihad have both confirmed the killing of Taysir al-Jabari, a key leader of the armed group, in a Friday strike on a building in the west of Gaza city.
The Palestinian Health Ministry also reported "a five-year-old girl, targeted by the Israeli occupation" was among those killed on Friday.
A Western-backed Palestinian Authority official condemned Israel's attacks. "We call on the international community to intervene and provide protection for our people," Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh said on Twitter.
Türkiye and Qatar have strongly condemned the Israeli strikes leading to civilian casualties.
READ MORE: Child and commander among victims of Israeli strikes on Gaza
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g4mbz82DY8[/embed]
Spiralling tensions
Islamic Jihad said the initial Israeli bombardment amounted to a "declaration of war", before it unleashed a barrage of rockets towards Israel.
The rocket fire and Israeli strikes were continuing early on Saturday, risking a repeat of an 11-day conflict in May 2021 that left at least 250 people in Gaza and 13 in Israel dead.
"Israel isn't interested in a wider conflict in Gaza, but will not shy away from one either," Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a nationally televised address on Friday.
Air raid sirens sounded across southern Israel early on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage, with many rockets intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defence system.
Officials in border areas urged people to stay close to shelters, which have also been opened in Tel Aviv.
Egypt — a historic broker between Israel and groups in Gaza — the United Nations and Qatar had begun mediating an end to the violence, according to a Palestinian official with knowledge of the efforts.
The strikes come four days after Israel closed its two border crossings with Gaza and restricted the movement of Israeli civilians living near the frontier, citing security concerns.
The measures followed the arrest in the occupied West Bank of two senior members of Islamic Jihad, including Bassem al-Saadi, who Israel accuses of orchestrating recent attacks.
READ MORE: Condemnations pour in after Israel launches deadly strikes on besieged Gaza
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli jets pounded militant targets in Gaza early Saturday as rockets rained on southern Israel, hours after a wave of Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave killed at least 11 people, including a senior militant and a 5-year-old girl.
The fighting that began Friday with Israel's dramatic targeted killing of a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued throughout the night, drawing the sides closer to an all-out war.
But the territory's Hamas rulers appeared to stay on the sidelines of the conflict, keeping its intensity somewhat contained, for now. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several smaller battles over the last 15 years at a staggering cost to the territory’s 2 million Palestinian residents.
The latest round of Israel-Gaza violence was sparked by the arrest this week of a senior Islamic Jihad leader in the West Bank, part of a monthlong Israeli military operation in the territory. Citing a security threat, Israel then sealed roads around the Gaza Strip and on Friday killed the militant leader in a targeted strike.
A blast was heard in Gaza City, where smoke poured from the seventh floor of a tall building. Video released by Israel’s military showed the strikes blowing up three guard towers with suspected militants in them.
In a nationally televised speech Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said his country launched the attacks based on “concrete threats.”
“This government has a zero-tolerance policy for any attempted attacks — of any kind — from Gaza towards Israeli territory,” Lapid said. “Israel will not sit idly by when there are those who are trying to harm its civilians.”
“Israel isn’t interested in a broader conflict in Gaza but will not shy away from one either.” he added.
The violence poses an early test for Lapid, who assumed the role of caretaker prime minister ahead of elections in November, when he hopes to keep the position.
Lapid, a centrist former TV host and author, has experience in diplomacy having served as foreign minister in the outgoing government, but has thin security credentials. A conflict with Gaza could burnish his standing and give him a boost as he faces off against former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a security hawk who led the country during three of its four wars with Hamas.
Hamas also faces a dilemma in deciding whether to join a new battle barely a year after the last war caused widespread devastation. There has been almost no reconstruction since then, and the isolated coastal territory is mired in poverty, with unemployment hovering around 50%.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said a 5-year-old girl and a 23-year-old woman were among those killed in Gaza, without differentiating between civilian and militant casualties. The Israeli military said early estimates were that around 15 fighters were killed. Dozens were wounded.
Islamic Jihad said Taiseer al-Jabari, its commander for northern Gaza, was among the dead. He had succeeded another militant killed in an airstrike in 2019. That set off a heavy round of fighting between Israel and the militant group.
An Israeli military spokesman said the strikes were in response to an “imminent threat” from two militant squads armed with anti-tank missiles. The spokesman, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said al-Jabari was deliberately targeted and had been responsible for “multiple attacks” on Israel.
Hundreds marched in a funeral procession for him and others who were killed, with many mourners waving Palestinian and Islamic Jihad flags and calling for revenge.
Israeli media showed the skies above southern and central Israel lighting up with rockets and interceptors from Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system. It wasn’t immediately clear how many rockets were launched, and there were no immediate reports of casualties on the Israeli side.
Overnight, Israel struck rocket launchers, rocket building sites and Islamic Jihad positions. It also arrested 19 Islamic Jihad militants in the West Bank, the military said.
The U.N. special envoy to the region, Tor Wennesland, said: “The launching of rockets must cease immediately, and I call on all sides to avoid further escalation."
Following the initial Israeli strikes, a few hundred people gathered outside the morgue at Gaza City’s main Shifa hospital. Some went in to identify loved ones and emerged later in tears.
“May God take revenge against spies,” shouted one, referring to Palestinian informants who cooperate with Israel.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz approved an order to call up 25,000 reserve soldiers if needed while the military announced a “special situation” on the home front, with schools closed and limits placed on activities in communities within 80 kilometers (50 miles) of the border.
Israel closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border as it braced for a revenge attack after Monday’s arrest of Bassam al-Saadi, an Islamic Jihad leader, in a military raid in the occupied West Bank. A teenage member of the group was killed in a gunbattle between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants.
Hamas seized power in the coastal strip from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Its most recent war with Israel was in May 2021. Tensions soared again earlier this year following a wave of attacks inside Israel, near-daily military operations in the West Bank and tensions at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site. Israel withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005.
Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhalah, speaking to the Al-Mayadeen TV network from Iran, said “fighters of the Palestinian resistance have to stand together to confront this aggression.” He said there would be “no red lines” and blamed the violence on Israel.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said “the Israeli enemy, which started the escalation against Gaza and committed a new crime, must pay the price and bear full responsibility for it.”
Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad is smaller than Hamas but largely shares its ideology. Both groups oppose Israel’s existence and have carried out scores of deadly attacks over the years, including the firing of rockets into Israel. It’s unclear how much control Hamas has over Islamic Jihad, and Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza.
Israel and Egypt have maintained a tight blockade over the territory since the Hamas takeover. Israel says the closure is needed to prevent Hamas from building up its military capabilities. Critics say the policy amounts to collective punishment.
———
Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Türkiye and Qatar have strongly condemned Israeli "aggression" on the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where Tel Aviv's air strikes killed at least 10 people, including a five-year-old girl, and wounded 75 others, triggering a barrage of retaliatory rocket fire from resistance fighters.
Türkiye on Saturday said it is "unacceptable that civilians, including children, lose their lives in attacks." Turkish Foreign Ministry urged "restraint and common sense" amid rising tension in the region following the deadly attacks on the blockaded enclave.
"We are deeply concerned about the rising tension in the region after the attacks. We emphasise the need to end these events before they turn into a new spiral of conflict," it said.
Qatar also joined Türkiye to condemn Israeli attacks on the Palestinians, urging "the international community to act urgently to stop the repeated attacks by the [Israeli] occupation against civilians, especially women and children."
Doha reiterated its "firm" position on the justice of the Palestinian cause, the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Iran called the Israeli operation a "brutal attack" that resulted in the killing of "resistance commanders" and defenceless Palestinian people.
The UN envoy for the Middle East Peace Process said he is "deeply concerned by the ongoing escalation between Palestinian militants and Israel, including the targeted killing today of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader inside Gaza."
"In the past few hours, at least 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes. I am deeply saddened by reports that a five-year-old child has been killed in these strikes. There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians," Tor Wennesland added.
READ MORE: Child and commander among 9 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza
Israeli strikes kill at least ten people in Gaza pic.twitter.com/34faDoGcGU
— TRT World (@trtworld) August 5, 2022
Egypt mediating
Meanwhile, sources said Egypt is working to calm the latest escalation in Gaza.
An Egyptian security source told the AFP news agency in Gaza that Cairo's mediation efforts had been ongoing since Friday when Israel launched attacks on what it described as Islamic Jihad targets.
Israeli officials earlier referred to Egyptian mediation when briefing reporters about the bombardment, adding the strikes killed 15 fighters.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid described the strikes as a "precise counter-terror operation against an immediate threat", and announced the killing of Taysir al Jabari, who he described as Islamic Jihad's second-in-command.
Islamic Jihad said the Israeli bombardment amounted to a "declaration of war" before it unleashed an "initial response" of more than 100 rockets toward Israel.
An Egyptian source separately said that a delegation from Islamic Jihad may head to Cairo later on Saturday.
Hamas' Doha-based leader Ismail Haniyeh held talks with "Egyptian intelligence" over the violence, a Hamas statement said.
Five-year-old girl killed
Flames poured out of a building in the main Gaza City following the first round of strikes, while wounded Palestinians were evacuated by medics.
Palestine's Health Ministry reported that "a five-year-old girl, targeted by the Israeli occupation" was among 10 people killed.
Alaa Kaddum had a pink bow in her hair and a wound on her forehead, as her body was carried by her father at her funeral.
Hundreds of mourners gathered in Gaza City for the funerals of Jabari and others killed in the air strikes.
Fresh Israeli strikes came a little more than a year after an 11-day war between Israel and Palestine in May 2021, which killed at least 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 in Israel and left the blockaded enclave's economy shattered.
Egypt, a historic broker between Israel and resistance movements in Palestine, negotiated the ceasefire that ended the fighting.
A narrow strip of land where some 2.3 million Palestinians live on a patch of 365 square kilometres, Gaza remains blockaded by Israel from land, air, and sea since 2007.
READ MORE: Gaza power plant may shut down as Israel closes border
Source: AA
Fast News
A bomb attached to a handcart has exploded in Kabul, police said, killing eight people and wounding 18 in an area largely inhabited by Afghanistan's minority Shia Muslim community.
The explosives were attached to a handcart loaded with vegetables and parked in an area where residents shopped for daily food items, Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran told reporters on Friday.
"The explosion took place amongst civilians and according to preliminary information two of our citizens were martyred and three others were wounded," he said.
The blast occurred in a west Kabul neighbourhood that is mainly inhabited by members of the ethnic Hazara community, who are mostly Shia Muslims.
Shia Muslims in Afghanistan are currently commemorating the first 10 days of the Islamic holy month of Muharram, culminating in Ashura, which marks the death of the revered Imam Hussein Ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
READ MORE: Did the US violate Doha accord by taking out Al Qaeda chief Zawahiri?
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muo1turFIbw[/embed]
Key security challenge
No group has so far claimed the blast, but Daesh has regularly targeted Shia Muslims in Afghanistan.
The number of violent public attacks across the country has fallen since the Taliban returned to power in August last year, but Daesh has continued to target Shia Muslims, whom it views as heretics.
The minority group makes up between 10 to 20 percent of Afghanistan's population of 38 million.
Taliban officials insist their forces have defeated Daesh, but analysts say the group remains a key security challenge.
READ MORE: How smouldering discontent affects the Taliban rule in Afghanistan
Source: AFP
Republican Congresswoman Jackie Walorski, her two aides, and a driver of another car are killed in Indiana state road accident, police say.
Reggie Ritchie comforts wife Della as they pause while clearing out their destroyed manufactured home destroyed by the flooding from Troublesome Creek behind them in Fisty, Kentucky, U.S. July 29, 2022.
Matt Stone | USA Today Network | Via Reuters
Some residents of Appalachia returned to flood-ravaged homes and communities on Saturday to shovel mud and debris and to salvage what they could, while Kentucky's governor said search and rescue operations were ongoing in the region swamped by torrential rains days earlier that led to deadly flash flooding.
Rescue crews were continuing the struggle to get into hard-hit areas, some of them among the poorest places in America. Dozens of deaths have been confirmed and the number is expected to grow.
In the tiny community of Wayland, Phillip Michael Caudill was working Saturday to clean up debris and recover what he could from the home he shares with his wife and three children. The waters had receded from the house but left a mess behind along with questions about what he and his family will do next.
"We're just hoping we can get some help," said Caudill, who is staying with his family at Jenny Wiley State Park in a free room, for now.
Caudill, a firefighter in the nearby Garrett community, went out on rescues around 1 a.m. Thursday but had to ask to leave around 3 a.m. so he could go home, where waters were rapidly rising.
"That's what made it so tough for me," he said. "Here I am, sitting there, watching my house become immersed in water and you got people begging for help. And I couldn't help," because he was tending to his own family.
A valley lies flooded as seen from a helicopter during a tour by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear over eastern Kentucky, July 29, 2022.
Office Of Gov. Andy Beshear | via Reuters
The water was up to his knees when he arrived home and he had to wade across the yard and carry two of his kids out to the car. He could barely shut the door of his SUV as they were leaving.
In Garrett on Saturday, couches, tables and pillows soaked by flooding were stacked in yards along the foothills of the mountainous region as people worked to clear out debris and shovel mud from driveways and roads under now-blue skies.
Hubert Thomas, 60, and his nephew Harvey, 37, fled to Jenny Wiley State Resort Park in Prestonburg after floodwaters destroyed their home in Pine Top late Wednesday night. The two were able to rescue their dog, CJ, but fear the damages to the home are beyond repair. Hubert Thomas, a retired coal miner, said his entire life savings was invested in his home.
"I've got nothing now," he said.
Harvey Thomas, an EMT, said he fell asleep to the sound of light rain, and it wasn't long until his uncle woke him up warning him that water was getting dangerously close to the house.
"It was coming inside and it just kept getting worse," he said, "like there was, at one point, we looked at the front door and mine and his cars was playing bumper cars, like bumper boats in the middle of our front yard."
As for what's next, Harvey Thomas said he doesn't know, but he's thankful to be alive.
"Mountain people are strong," he said. "And like I said it's not going to be tomorrow, probably not next month, but I think everybody's going to be okay. It's just going to be a long process."
At least 25 have people died — including four children — in the flooding, Kentucky's governor said Saturday.
"We continue to pray for the families that have suffered an unfathomable loss," Gov. Andy Beshear said. "Some having lost almost everyone in their household."
Beshear said the number would likely rise significantly and it could take weeks to find all the victims of the record flash flooding. Crews have made more than 1,200 rescues from helicopters and boats, the governor said.
"I'm worried that we're going to be finding bodies for weeks to come," Beshear said during a midday briefing.
The rain let up early Friday after parts of eastern Kentucky received between 8 and 10 1/2 inches (20-27 centimeters) over 48 hours. But some waterways were not expected to crest until Saturday. About 18,000 utility customers in Kentucky remained without power Saturday, poweroutage.us reported.
It's the latest in a string of catastrophic deluges that have pounded parts of the U.S. this summer, including St. Louis earlier this week and again on Friday. Scientists warn climate change is making weather disasters more common.
As rainfall hammered Appalachia this week, water tumbled down hillsides and into valleys and hollows where it swelled creeks and streams coursing through small towns. The torrent engulfed homes and businesses and trashed vehicles. Mudslides marooned some people on steep slopes.
President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to more than a dozen Kentucky counties.
The flooding extended into western Virginia and southern West Virginia.
Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for six counties in West Virginia where the flooding downed trees, power outages and blocked roads. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin also made an emergency declaration, enabling officials to mobilize resources across the flooded southwest of the state.
The deluge came two days after record rains around St. Louis dropped more than 12 inches (31 centimeters) and killed at least two people. Last month, heavy rain on mountain snow in Yellowstone National Park triggered historic flooding and the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. In both instances, the rain flooding far exceeded what forecasters predicted.
Extreme rain events have become more common as climate change bakes the planet and alters weather patterns, according to scientists. That's a growing challenge for officials during disasters, because models used to predict storm impacts are in part based on past events and can't keep up with increasingly devastating flash floods and heat waves like those that have recently hit the Pacific Northwest and southern Plains.
"It's a battle of extremes going on right now in the United States," said University of Oklahoma meteorologist Jason Furtado. "These are things we expect to happen because of climate change. ... A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor and that means you can produce increased heavy rainfall."
