World

Catastrophic Libya flood kills thousands, desperate relatives search for survivors

Published

3 years ago

September 14, 2023

Residents of the devastated Libyan city of Derna desperately searched for missing relatives on Wednesday and rescue workers appealed for more body bags, after a catastrophic flood that killed thousands of people and swept many out to sea, Reuters reported.

Swathes of the Mediterranean city were obliterated by a torrent of water unleashed by a powerful storm that swept down a usually dry riverbed on Sunday night, bursting dams above the city. Multi-storey buildings collapsed with sleeping families inside.

Officials have put the number of missing at 10,000. The U.N. aid agency OCHA said the figure was at least 5,000.

Usama Al Husadi, a 52-year-old driver, has been searching for his wife and five children since the disaster. “I went by foot searching for them … I went to all hospitals and schools but no luck,” he told Reuters, weeping with his head in his hands.

Husadi, who had been working the night of the storm, dialled his wife’s phone number once again. It was switched off. “We lost at least 50 members from my father’s family, between missing and dead,” he said.

The beach was littered with clothes, toys, furniture, shoes and other possessions swept out of homes by the torrent, read the report.

Streets were covered in deep mud and strewn with uprooted trees and hundreds of wrecked cars, many flipped on their sides or their roofs. One car was wedged on the second-floor balcony of a gutted building.

“I survived with my wife but I lost my sister,” Mohamed Mohsen Bujmila, a 41-year-old engineer, said. “My sister lives downtown where most of the destruction happened. We found the bodies of her husband and son and buried them.”

He also found the bodies of two strangers in his apartment.

As he spoke an Egyptian search-and-rescue team nearby recovered the body of his neighbour. “This is Aunt Khadija, may God grant her heaven,” Bujmila said.

The devastation is clear from high points above Derna, where the densely populated city centre, built along a seasonal riverbed, was now a wide, flat crescent of earth with stretches of muddy water gleaming in the sun. Buildings were swept away.

Death tolls given by officials so far have varied, but all are in the thousands.

Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that runs eastern Libya, told Reuters more than 5,300 dead had been counted so far, and said the number was likely to increase significantly and might even double. The “sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies”, he said by phone.

Tariq Kharaz, a spokesperson for the eastern authorities, said 3,200 bodies had been recovered, and 1,100 of them had yet to be identified.

Derna Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television the estimated the number of deaths in the city could reach 18,000 to 20,000 based on the number of districts destroyed by the flood.

Rescue teams have arrived from Egypt, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Qatar, al-Ghaithi said.

“We actually need teams specialised in recovering bodies,” he said. “I fear that the city will be infected with an epidemic due to the large number of bodies under the rubble and in the water.”

Turkey is also sending a ship carrying equipment to set up two field hospitals and 148 medical staff to help with the rescue efforts, Reuters reported.

The U.N. migration agency, the International Organization for Migration, said at least 30,000 people had been displaced in Derna.

“We need bags for the bodies,” Lutfi al-Misrati, the director of the search team, told Al Jazeera.

Rescue operations are complicated by deep political fractures in the country of 7 million people that has lacked a strong central government and been at war on-and-off since a NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

An internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) is based in Tripoli, in the west, while a parallel administration operates in the east, including Derna.

Libya’s Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah called the floods an unprecedented catastrophe. Libya’s Presidential Council head Mohammed al-Menfi has called for national unity.

The bodies of dozens of Egyptian migrants who were among the victims of the storm in Libya arrived on Wednesday in Beni Suef, about 110km (68 miles) south of Cairo, Egyptian media reported.

Related Topics:Catastrophic Libya flood featured Libya floods Libyan city of Derna missing relatives

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US war in Iran has cost $29 billion so far, Pentagon says

On April 29, the Pentagon said the war at that point had cost $25 billion.

Published

2 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Ariana News

The United States’ war in Iran has cost $29 ‌billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday, an increase of $4 billion from an estimate provided late last month, Reuters reported.

With just six months before midterm elections in which President Donald Trump’s ⁠Republicans may face an uphill battle to keep their House majority, Democrats are riding high in public opinion polls as they attempt to link the war with cost of living issues.

On April 29, the Pentagon said the war at that point had cost $25 billion.

Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of ‌the ⁠comptroller, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the new cost included updated repair and replacement of equipment and operational costs.

“The joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate,” Hurst ⁠said. He was speaking alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine.

It ⁠is unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the $29 billion figure. A source told Reuters in March that ⁠Trump’s administration estimated the first six days of the war had cost at least $11.3 billion, read the repor.

World

Americans don’t think Trump has explained Iran war goals, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows

The Reuters/Ipsos poll had a 3-percentage-point margin of error in either direction based on the number of people surveyed.

Published

1 day ago

May 12, 2026

Ariana News

Two out of three Americans think President Donald Trump has not clearly explained why the country went ‌to war with Iran, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday that also showed his approval rating ticking up from the lowest level of his term.

The four-day poll revealed deep concerns about surging gasoline prices, and also suggested many voters are casting blame for their troubles on Trump’s Republican allies who will be defending their congressional majorities in the November midterm elections.

More than two months into a conflict that began February 28 with a U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, some 66% of poll respondents – including one in three Republicans and almost all Democrats – said Trump has not “clearly explained the goals of U.S. ⁠military involvement in Iran.”

The war, which cooled in recent weeks as both sides floated peace proposals, has driven a roughly 50% increase in gasoline prices across the country. Iran shut down a fifth of the global oil trade by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz – despite efforts by U.S. warships to re-open the waterway for oil tankers.

Some 63% of the country say their household’s personal financial situation has taken a hit from recent gas price increases, up from 55% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted March 17-19.

Some 36% of Americans approve of Trump’s performance, up two percentage points since a late April Reuters/Ipsos poll showed his approval rating at 34%, which was the lowest level of Trump’s current term in office.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll had a 3-percentage-point margin of error in either direction based on the number of people surveyed.

Trump’s popularity remains below the 40% approval rate he had just before the war started. He started his term ‌in January ⁠2025 with 47% approval after winning the 2024 presidential election on promises to lower costs for Americans.

Three-quarters of the public – including half of Republicans – think his administration bears at least a fair amount of responsibility for the gas price surge, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. Asked which political party is more responsible, 65% of poll respondents said Republicans were to blame compared to 27% who said Democrats.

Four out of five Americans said they expect gas prices to rise further.

Republicans are defending narrow majorities in the ⁠U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in the midterms. Their hopes of keeping control of the House have been bolstered by recent court rulings that could lead to voting district boundaries that are more favorable to Republicans. Republican strategists say the party’s chances would further improve if gasoline prices came down.

But with no agreement in sight between ⁠Washington and Tehran, about three in 10 Americans already expect to cut back on summer vacation plans if gas prices hold firm, the poll found. Many expect to cancel their trips or travel shorter distances.

Trump has repeatedly promised gas prices will fall when the war ends, though analysts warn that is unlikely to happen ⁠quickly. The public isn’t sure who has the upper hand in the conflict. Only one in three say America has the advantage, while about one in seven say Iran has it, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. The rest said they weren’t sure or that neither side has an advantage.

The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online and gathered responses from 1,254 U.S. adults nationwide.

World

Israel built and defended a secret base in Iraq for Iran war, WSJ reports

Published

3 days ago

May 10, 2026

Ariana News

Israel established a covert military installation in the Iraqi desert to support its air operations against Iran, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, citing individuals familiar with the matter, including U.S. officials.

The report said the facility was used as a logistical hub for the Israeli Air Force and also housed special forces, as well as search-and-rescue units prepared to assist any downed pilots during operations.

According to the newspaper, the base was built with the knowledge of the United States shortly before the onset of what it described as a joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

The report added that Israeli forces conducted airstrikes against Iraqi troops on at least one occasion after they allegedly came close to discovering the site, in order to prevent exposure of the facility.

The existence of the installation reportedly came under threat in early March, when Iraqi state media said a shepherd had alerted authorities to unusual military activity in the area, including helicopter movements. Iraqi forces were subsequently dispatched to investigate.

The Wall Street Journal further reported that Iraqi troops were struck by Israeli air operations while approaching the area, based on accounts from sources familiar with the incident.

Later in March, Iraq submitted a complaint to the United Nations alleging that foreign forces were involved in attacks in the area and initially attributed responsibility to the United States. However, the report cited a source familiar with the matter as saying the U.S. was not involved.