Regional
Ten people killed during Israeli raid in southern Syria, Syrian state media reports
Ten people were killed by Israeli fire in a village in southern Syria on Friday, Syrian state media reported, while the Israeli military said five soldiers were wounded in a clash during an operation to apprehend members of a militant group there.
Syrian state media reports suggested the Israeli raid in the Beit Jinn area had spiralled into one of the deadliest such incidents since President Bashar al-Assad was toppled a year ago. Israel has mounted regular incursions in southern Syria since then, citing goals that include keeping militants away from the frontier, according to Reuters.
The Israeli military said its troops came under fire from militants during an overnight operation to detain suspects belonging to a group it identified as the Jaama Islamiya. It described the raid as part of routine operations in the area in recent months.
VIOLENT CLASHES
The Israeli troops responded with fire “along with aerial assistance”, the Israeli military said in a statement, adding that three of the wounded Israeli soldiers had severe injuries. “A number of terrorists were eliminated,” it said.
The Syrian state news agency SANA, citing the head of the health directorate in the Damascus countryside governorate, reported 10 people were killed and dozens more wounded as a result of the Israeli attack. The dead included two children, SANA reported earlier.
The Israeli forces had shelled Beit Jinn at 3:40 a.m. (0140 GMT) and Israeli troops had entered the village, SANA said. Residents confronted the Israeli forces, which responded, leading to “violent clashes”, it added.
Israeli forces arrested two people, the military and a local Syrian official said.
The Israeli military declined to offer further details about the militant group it said was targeted in the raid. It accused the suspects of military activity, including planting improvised-explosive devices, and “planning future attacks on Israel including rocket fire”.
ISRAEL SUSPICIOUS OF NEW GOVERNMENT
Israel has voiced deep suspicion of Syria’s new government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander, and has said it wants a demilitarized southern Syria.
Sharaa has said Syria does not pose a threat to any state in the region or the world.
Israel has intervened militarily several times with the declared aim of protecting members of Syria’s Druze minority, notably during violence in Sweida province in July that pitted Sunni Muslim Bedouin fighters and government forces against Druze fighters.
Israel, which frequently bombed Syria when it was ruled by Assad, stepped up its military operations in the country after he was ousted, moving troops and military equipment past a 1974 buffer zone and into southern Syria, including the strategic overlook point of Mount Hermon.
Regional
Floods, landslides kill 56 in India and 14 in Nepal
In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.
Heavy rain and storms have triggered floods and landslides that killed 56 people in India, while in Nepal, 14 have died and another 11 are missing, with authorities there warning on Sunday that more flash floods are possible, Reuters reported.
India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh recorded 66.5 mm of rain between September 25 and the morning of September 27, compared with a normal 7.6 mm for the period, Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod, the state’s relief commissioner, said on Sunday.
Authorities are carrying out rescue operations in waterlogged areas and distributing relief, while officials have been told to assess crop damage and provide compensation.
In addition to the 56 deaths, 46 people have been injured and more than 1,000 houses have been damaged.
Nepali authorities warned of possible flash floods in 49 of the country’s 77 districts, with more than half facing high flood or flash-flood risks as water levels in major rivers and tributaries continued to rise.
Shanti Mahat, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said Rasuwa and Nuwakot, areas hit by last month’s deadly floods that killed more than 1,450 people and left thousands still missing, should remain “alert” but were not currently considered high-risk areas.
Power supply has been completely disrupted in the Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Baglung districts, with authorities working to restore electricity, energy ministry officials said.
Flooding of the Rahuganga River damaged the structure and transmission-line towers of a 40-megawatt hydropower project, Water Resources and Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said.
In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.
Several major rivers, including the Ganga, Gandak, Kosi, Bagmati and Narmada, were above danger levels, read the report.
Floods and landslides also disrupted telecommunications in parts of Nepal after damage to optical fibres and power supplies, Communications Minister Bikram Timilsinha said.
In a separate incident in Nepal, 10 local workers were also missing after an avalanche buried the base camp of the 7,126-metre (23,379-ft) Himlung Himal in the northern Manang district, hiking officials said.
The workers had been setting up tents for foreign climbers, who were not present when the avalanche struck.
Regional
Aimal Wali Khan calls Dera Ismail Khan attack a ‘state failure’
Khan called on the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to take greater responsibility for protecting citizens and addressing the deteriorating security situation in the province.
Awami National Party (ANP) President and Senator Aimal Wali Khan has condemned the suicide attack on the Aman Mela checkpoint in the Darazinda area of Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan district, describing it as a failure by the state to ensure the security of citizens.
According to Dawn, Khan called on the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to take greater responsibility for protecting citizens and addressing the deteriorating security situation in the province.
In a statement, Khan said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is experiencing one of the darkest periods in its history. He alleged that the Pashtun population is facing systematic violence and said prolonged insecurity has left the province deeply affected by terrorism.
Khan also condemned an attack on an ambulance reportedly carrying the body of a person killed in the blast, describing it as an “inhumane act.”
The ANP leader questioned the government’s response to the worsening security situation, saying that blaming groups referred to by authorities as “Fitna al-Khawarij” and “Fitna al-Hindustan” does not absolve the state of its responsibility to protect citizens.
He urged the federal and provincial governments to stop blaming each other and instead focus on restoring peace and strengthening security across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Regional
Blast in Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan kills 11, injures 30
Eleven people were killed and 30 injured in a blast in Dera Ismail Khan in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, emergency service Rescue 1122 said.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.
The blast occurred near Aman Mela in the Darazinda area of the district, Rescue 1122 said in a statement.
Rescue teams from the Darazinda station reached the scene and began relief operations, providing medical assistance to the wounded and taking them to hospital, the service said.
Security incidents have continued in the district this month, including attacks involving the Pakistani Taliban.
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