Dozens kidnapped in northwest Nigeria after bandits invite them to talks

-
By Reuters and Posted by TOE Armed bandits in northwest Nigeria abducted dozens of villagers whom they invited to a meeting ‌about potential peace negotiations, authorities and residents said on ‌Monday, highlighting the region’s worsening security. Police said 39 people were seized on Sunday ​when they went to a meeting in the forest near Magamin Diddi village in the Maradun municipality of northwest Zamfara State. Some local residents and officials said the number could be as ‌high as 50. According to ⁠a Zamfara State Police Command statement, the victims were meeting relatives of a bandit leader in ⁠an attempt to broker peace and ease restrictions on movement imposed on the community. Zamfara is at the centre of a long-running security ​crisis in ​which armed groups, locally referred ​to as bandits, carry ‌out mass kidnappings, killings and village raids. The violence has disrupted farming and displaced thousands. Security forces have deployed personnel and...
Post a Comment

Israel and Iran continue to trade attacks as conflict widens

-

Iran launched a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least three killed and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of open warfare between the regional foes.

Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for the surprise attack on its nuclear program and military leadership that Israel began last Friday.

Powerful explosions, likely from Israel’s defense systems intercepting Iranian missiles, rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn on Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky over the coastal city.

Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv said that Iranian missiles had hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, blowing out windows and heavily damaging multiple apartments.

The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service reported that two women and one man — all in their 70s — were killed in the wave of missile attacks that struck four sites in central Israel. That brought the total death toll in Israel to at least 17 since Iran began launching missiles at the country in response to Israel’s sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure last Friday.

The MDA added that paramedics had evacuated another 74 wounded people to hospitals, including a 30-year-old woman in serious condition, while rescuers were still searching for residents trapped beneath the rubble of their homes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that if Israeli strikes on Iran stop, “our responses will also stop.” But after a day of intensive Israeli aerial attacks that extended targets beyond military installations to hit oil refineries and government buildings, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard struck a hard line, vowing that further rounds of strikes would be “more forceful, severe, precise and destructive than previous ones.”

The day before Israel’s military struck dozens of sites across Iran, expanding its targets beyond military installations to hit oil refineries and government buildings.

Iran on Sunday said Israel had killed the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence chief and pummeled population centers in intensive aerial attacks that raised the death toll from Israel’s campaign to 224 people since Friday.

Health authorities also reported that 1,277 were wounded in Iran, without distinguishing between military officials and civilians. Rights groups putting together their own casualty reports in the country have suggested that the Iranian government’s death toll is a significant undercount.

SOURCE: AP AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/kTehrsK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Myanmar earthquake death toll rises as fresh tremors further complicate rescue efforts

-
Image
A5.1-magnitude earthquake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The tremor was part of a series of aftershocks following Friday’s devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake, which resulted in the collapse of numerous buildings and significant infrastructure damage. The death toll has risen to over 1,600, with more than 3,400 individuals reported missing; these numbers are expected to increase as rescue operations continue. Foreign rescue teams and supplies arrived in Myanmar on Sunday to help the impoverished country cope with an earthquake that killed over 1,600 and left many near the epicentre scrambling for help without proper equipment. The 7.7-magnitude quake, one of Myanmar’s strongest in a century, jolted the Southeast Asian nation on Friday, leaving 1,644 people dead, 3,408 injured and 139 missing, the military government said. India, China and Thailand are among Myanmar’s neighbours that have sent relief ...
Read more

Israel says situation on Lebanon border ‘not sustainable’

-
By James Mackenzie Reuters  Israeli officials and media reacted with satisfaction on Monday after a  long-expected missile attack  by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement appeared to have been largely thwarted by pre-emptive Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. Both Hezbollah and Israel seemed content to let Sunday’s attack, in retaliation for the  killing of a senior Hezbollah commander  in Beirut last month, count as settled for the moment. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said Hezbollah had suffered a “crushing blow” from the Israeli strikes but that a longer lasting solution was still needed. “The current situation is not sustainable,” he told a briefing, referring to the tens of thousands evacuated from their homes in northern Israel, a situation mirrored on the other side of the border in southern Lebanon. “Israel will do its duty and return its population to our sovereign territory.” Hopes that children might return for the start of the ...
Read more