February 5, 2024

Devastating wildfires tearing through swaths of Chile have killed more than 100 people, authorities said Sunday, as they warned that the death toll was set to rise. The Chilean National Disaster Prevention and Response Service said at least 112 people have died so far. Officials also said that 32 bodies have been identified, 38 autopsies have been conducted, and 10 bodies are ready to be delivered to relatives. News agency photographs and footage over the weekend laid bare the trail of destruction wrought in multiple communities by the infernos. Aerial shots from the El Olivar commune showed dozens of vehicles burned to shells alongside multiple houses reduced to ash. One video obtained by CNN showed the inside of a bus ferrying passengers through the city of Valparaíso as fires raged outside. RELATED ARTICLEColombia declares a disaster due to wildfires as it calls for international help There are currently 161 active fires burning across the country, the Chilean National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (SENAPRED) said. SENAPRED Director Álvaro Hormazábal told CNN affiliate CNN Chile that firefighters had controlled 102 of those fires but are still battling 40 others. Nineteen wildfires are under currently observation, Hormazábal added. President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency as coastal cities like Viña del Mar and Valparaiso choked in smoke. Residents living in central regions were also forced to evacuate their homes. Speaking at a press conference held after visiting affected areas on Sunday, Boric raised fears that the death toll would “increase significantly.” In a televised statement on Saturday, Boric said that the defense ministry would deploy more military units to affected areas, with all necessary resources made available. He declared Monday and Tuesday as days of national mourning for fire victims. Firefighters at the Botanical Garden in Viña del Mar. Javier Torres/AFP/Getty Images Burned vehicles in Quilpue, Viña del Mar, Chile. Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images The human-caused climate crisis is making heat waves and droughts, which fuel wildfires, more frequent and intense. The world is also currently experiencing the El Niño phenomenon, boosting temperatures even further. Wildfires have intensified around the globe, providing a stark reminder of how the climate crisis is upending lives and inflicting billions of dollars a year in damage. And it will only get worse, according to experts. “Uncontrollable and devastating wildfires are becoming an expected part of the seasonal calendars in many parts of the world,” the UN Environment Programme said in a report published in 2022. The number of extreme wildfire events will increase up to 14% by 2030, according to the UN report. By 2050, the increase will climb to 30%. A man helps a fellow resident cool down with bottled water as forest fires burn nearby. Esteban Felix/AP In Chile, the fires come as the country battles a summer heatwave. The capital Santiago has been sweltering through consecutive days of hot and dry temperatures climbing above 33 degrees Celsius (91.4°F). Neighboring Colombia battled recent wildfires, declaring a disaster and also calling for international help to fight the flames. Emergency crews on the ground in Chile are prioritizing the fires in the port city of Valparaíso because of its proximity to urban areas. Local officials said 372 residents were reported missing. Located about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of the capital Santiago on Chile’s coast, Valparaiso is a popular tourist destination known for its colorful houses, idyllic hills and its historic old town. Valeria Melipillán, mayor of Quilpué city, the capital of the Marga Marga Province in central Chile’s Valparaíso Region, told CNN Chile that the wildfires are “probably the largest ever” in the region. Nearly 1,400 houses in the municipality have been damaged, Melipillán added. Chile’s Finance Minister Mario Marcel told reporters on Sunday that preliminary estimates for damages in the Valaparaíso region was expected to reach “hundreds of millions of dollars.” While evacuation efforts had been efficient, some living in affected areas did not want to vacate their homes, local search and rescue officials said. Rodrigo Mundaca, the governor of Valparaiso, said curfews were in place in the towns of Viña del Mar, Quilpué, Villa Alemana and Limache to allow authorities to focus on battling the blazes. Pope Francis, who hails from nearby Argentina, called upon people to “pray for the deceased and injured victims of the devastating fires that have affected central Chile.” Residents being evacuated by the military in Valparaiso, Chile. Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu/Getty Images Aerial view of burned vehicles in the El Olivar commune. Javier Torres/AFP/Getty Images At least one person has been detained so far in connection to the wildfires, CNN Chile reported. According to police, the man was at his home in the city of Talca in central Chile doing welding work when a fire accidentally started and spread to nearby grasslands. The suspect will be arraigned on Sunday in Talca, according to the Maule Prosecutor’s Office. A man puts out a forest fire on the zone of a forest fire in the hills in Quilpe comune, Valparaiso region. Javier Torres/AFP/Getty Images Source:https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/03/climate/chile-wildfires-state-of-emergency-intl-hnk/index.html

At least 10 policemen have been killed in an attack in northern Pakistan as violence mounts in the run-up to national elections. Police reported on Monday that attackers had targeted a police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail district with heavy weapons. Alongside the 10 people killed, at least six others were injured. end of list Police said that they have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to hunt down the attackers. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TPJ) issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. The armed group is believed to be an offshoot of the outlawed Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which, seeking to overthrow the government and establish strict religious law, has targeted the state and its institutions for years. Dera Ismail Khan is a former TTP stronghold. The remote northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has witnessed a rise in violence as Pakistan’s 128 million voters prepare for February 8 elections. Rehan Zaib Khan, an independent candidate, and four aides were shot dead in the province’s Bajur district on January 31. In December, the TPJ claimed responsibility for an attack in Tehsil Daraban during which a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden vehicle outside a police station. The attack killed at least 23 troops and wounded 32. Last month, at least 101 people were killed when a suicide bomber targeted a mosque in the regional capital Peshawar. Two fronts Violence has been mounting across Pakistan as the vote approaches. Security threats are also rife in the southwestern region of Balochistan, where the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) – the most prominent of several separatist groups – have stepped up attacks. Last week, at least 15 people were killed when the BLA targeted military and security installations in the city of Mach, 65km (40 miles) south of Balochistan’s capital, Quetta Fearing violence during the February 8 ballot, Balochistan’s Information Minister Jan Achakzai announced on Sunday night that the internet service will remain temporarily restricted on election day. “Ensuring the safety and security of ordinary citizens is of utmost importance, as there is a concern that terrorists may exploit social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and other similar channels for communication purposes,” he wrote in a post on X. Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is strategically important because of its rich copper, zinc and natural gas reserves. Cities in the province are a constant target of armed groups. Baloch nationalists initially wanted a share of provincial resources, but later initiated a movement for complete independence. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/5/armed-group-kills-10-in-pakistans-restive-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-region

Rescue teams search for survivors as local authorities say 30 people were killed in Israeli air attacks on “safe homes” and a mosque in central Gaza. Health workers, patients and displaced Palestinians trapped inside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City are “completely terrified”, reports Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum as videos show Israeli snipers killing at least seven Palestinians nearby. Houthi spokesperson rejected US’s dismissal of a link between the Gaza war and Red Sea attacks, as the US launches more strikes on Yemen. At least 27,365 people have been killed and 66,630 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139. Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims responsibility for drone strike in Syria The umbrella group that includes militias such as Kataib Hezbollah says it was behind the drone attack on a US Base in Al Omar oil field in Syria’s Deir Az Zor province. The group said in a statement that the attack was a continuation of their approach to “resisting the occupation”, a show of support to the people of Gaza, and a “response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against Palestinian civilians, including children, women, and the elderly”. “The Islamic Resistance confirms that it will continue to destroy enemy strongholds” it added. The group were also behind last week’s drone attack that killed three US military personnel in northeastern Jordan, near the Syria border. ‘From the river to the sea’: What does the Palestinian slogan really mean? The slogan calling for freedom for Palestinians from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea have been widely used around the globe since Israel’s war on Gaza started in last October. There have been attempts to curtail its use in pro-Palestinian protests across the Western world since then. Read more about what it means here. Click Jordan carries out aerial drops of humanitarian aid in northern Gaza The Royal Jordanian Air Force and the Dutch Air Force have made the aerial drops in the vicinity of the Jordanian Field Hospital 77 in northern Gaza, according to the Jordanian army. “The aid that was dropped contained relief, humanitarian and medical materials by means of special boxes equipped with parachutes guided by the GPS system, with the aim of delivering them to the specified locations and within the necessary timings,” the army said in a statement. At least six killed in drone strike on SDF training base in Syria We are getting reports that a drone struck a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) facility overnight killing at least 6 of its members. Sources told Al Jazeera the target was a training base in Syria’s Deir Az Zor province, and the drone hit a dormitory. US forces are also stationed at the training base. Reuters news agency also reported the incident, citing two local sources who say the drone had come from an area where Iranian-backed proxies are active and regularly launch strikes. The SDF has said that they have a right to an appropriate military response to the source of the attack. More information to follow… Click here to share on social media At least 540 Israeli soldiers wounded in ‘friendly fire’ since ground invasion Citing the Israeli army, Israel’s Channel 12 is reporting that at least 540 soldiers have been wounded since October 27. The total Israeli army death toll since October 7 stands at 562. Click here to share on social media WHO says 1,243 wounded evacuated from Gaza through Rafah crossing The World Health Organization says that 1,243 medical cases have been evacuated from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing. At least 1,025 other Palestinians accompanied the patients as medical chaperones. The WHO chief has previously pointed to reports from the organisation’s employees in the Gaza Strip that indicate that the risk of famine is increasing every day in Gaza’s hospitals. Click here to share on social media Al-Quds says it struck Israeli soldiers in central Gaza, Khan Younis We are getting more information on the operations of al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, in the Gaza Strip. It said on Telegram that it used mortars to shell a group of Israeli soldiers and vehicles in the east of the Maghazi camp in central Gaza. It also said that its fighters bombed another group of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with Grad missiles in the al-Amal neighbourhood, in the west of Khan Younis. Earlier, al-Quds Brigades said it attacked two separate groups of Israeli soldiers and vehicles around Khan Younis. Click here to share on social media