May 27, 2024

As many as 2,000 people are feared to have been buried by last week’s massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, according to the country’s National Disaster Centre, as rescuers scramble to find any survivors in the remote region. The landslide occurred in the mountainous Enga region in northern Papua New Guinea on Friday and the latest figure is a sharp rise from earlier estimates. Soon after the disaster occurred, the United Nations said as many as 100 may have died. That was later revised up to 670, according to estimates from the Chief of Mission for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the country. But that may now be a major underestimate according to the latest projection from Papua New Guinea’s disaster agency. “The landslide buried more than 2000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country,” Lusete Laso Mana, Acting Director the National Disaster Centre, said in a letter to the UN. “The situation remains unstable as the landslip continues to shift slowly, posing ongoing danger to both rescue teams and survivors alike,” he added, saying the main highway to the area had been completely blocked by the landslide. “Following the inspection conducted by the team, it was determined that the damages are extensive and require immediate and collaborative actions from all players.” The landslide hit the remote village of Kaokalam, about 600 kilometers (372 miles) northwest of the capital Port Moresby, at approximately 3 a.m. local time on Friday, leaving a scar of debris that humanitarian workers said was as big as four football pitches. More than 150 houses in Yambali village were buried in debris, officials said on Sunday. The area continues to pose an “extreme risk,” officials said, as rocks continue to fall and the ground soil is exposed to constant increased pressure. Papua New Guinea is home to around 10 million people. Its vast mountainous terrain and lack of roads have made it difficult to access the affected area. Pierre Rognon, an associate professor from the University of Sydney’s School of Civil Engineering, said it’s “particularly challenging” for rescuers to find survivors after a landslide. “Landslides can bury collapsed structures and people under dozens of meters of geomaterials,” he said. “To make things worse, they can move structures and trap people over hundreds of meters. No one can predict exactly where potential survivors may be located and where to start looking for them.” It’s not clear what caused the landslide, but geology professor Alan Collins from the University of Adelaide said it occurred in a region of “considerable rainfall.” “Although the landslide does not appear to have been directly triggered by an earthquake, frequent earthquakes caused by plates colliding build steep slopes and high mountains that can become very unstable,” Collins said. He said rainfall could have altered the minerals making the bedrock, weakening the rock that forms the steep hillsides. “Vegetation mitigates this as tree roots can stabilise the ground and deforestation can make landslides more prevalent by destroying this biological mesh,” he said. Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/27/world/papua-new-guinea-landslide-thousands-feared-buried-intl-hnk/index.html

 Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said that Pakistan has evidence that Afghanistan’s soil was used for an attack on Chinese engineers in Bisham, and it is a matter of great concern for Islamabad. He demanded that the interim Taliban government in Afghanistan should hand over banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists involved in the Bisham terror attack to Islamabad. Addressing a joint press conference along with officials of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta), Naqvi said: “Whether Afghanistan try the terrorists [in the court of law] or not, it should hand over the militants to Pakistan.” At least six people, including five Chinese nationals, were killed after a suicide bomber rammed into the bus transporting the staff working on the Dasu hydropower project in Bisham, Shangla district, in March this year. In view of the investigation report, the interior minister said the TTP operated the Bisham terror attack on Chinese citizens from inside Afghanistan. “[Pakistan has formally] requested the interim government in Afghanistan to arrest the leadership of [banned] TTP,” he added. Briefing the media about the progress of the probe, Naqvi said: “Probe agencies have prepared an investigation report.” He said they had concrete evidence that the TTP carried out the terror attack on the Chinese engineers and Afghan soil was used for it. The minister said they wanted friendly ties with Kabul, adding that “it is only possible if they cooperate with Islamabad”. Responding to a question, he said the government had contacted the interim authorities in Kabul but “good results are not coming from there”. The interior minister said Pakistan gave great importance to its ties with China, adding that both friendly nations support each other at different global forums. “The security of Chinese nationals is very important to us.” He said the government “is taking all possible measures to ensure the security of Chinese nationals” in the country. To another question about the suicide attack on the Chinese nationals, Naqvi said that it was a planned attack. “The government knows very well which forces want to create a law and order situation in the country.” The minister said such threats coming from across the borders make regional security more complex. Mohsin Naqvi said Pakistan had beefed up its security at borders, adding that the government was well aware of the elements behind such incidents, which wanted to harm relations between Pakistan and China. He said support was being provided to TTP-like terrorists in border areas. He said Chinese security was very important and new standard operating procedures (SOPs) had been made in this regard and were being strictly implemented. The minister said that in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Counter-Terrorism Department was doing great work and they had developed themselves in very short span of time. Mohsin Naqvi said the Pakistan government had requested the interim Afghan government to arrest Bakhtiar Shah, Qari Asadullah and Khan Lala and specially TTP Ameer Noor Wali Mehsud, TTP Malakand Commander Azmatullah Mehsud and other senior leaders of the TTP. National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta) Coordinator Muhammad Tahir Rai gave a detailed briefing about the investigation carried out so far. He said the entire incident was planned in Afghanistan and objective was to harm the Pakistan-China relations. He said 11 accused namely Adil Shehbaz, Shafiq Qureshi, Zahid Qureshi, Nazeer Hussain, Faizullah, Fasihullah, Imran Swati, Sakha-Ullah, Abdullah, Abdul Rehman and Kamal Khan had been arrested so far. He said the accused were in police custody on physical remand. The remaining accused including Hazrat Bilal would be arrested soon. Tahir said a cellphone, which the suicide bomber had been using to communicate with his local handlers, led to the arrest of suspects. The investigation and evidence show the militants had been taking instructions from TTP leaders in Afghanistan. He said one of the SIMs was issued in the name of Adil Shah, a resident of Mansehra, and the other one in the name of Shafique Qureshi. “Adil Shah was in contact with terrorist Hazrat Bilal.” Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1193550-bisham-attack-islamabad-asks-kabul-to-hand-over-ttp-terrorists

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/5/27/israels-war-on-gaza-live-news-35-killed-in-rafah-tent-bombings