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The final results of Pakistan’s national election put independents, backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in the lead with 95 of 264 seats. The party of another ex-PM, Nawaz Sharif, was second with 75 seats after Thursday’s vote, lacking a clear majority but it was the largest single party. As coalition talks are held, protests have been called by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and several other parties over allegations of vote rigging. The final tally of votes was published by the election commission more than 60 hours after voting ended, raising questions over the delay. Here’s what happened today We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a review of the day’s main events: Independent candidates backed by jailed ex-PM Imran Khan’s PTI party took most seats in Thursday’s election, with questions now being raised over whether they could form a party or join an existing party or coalition. Meanwhile, another ex-PM Nawaz Sharif’s PMLN – which won the largest number of seats after the independents – and the PPP of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari are holding alliance talks and wrangling over who would be the premier. To become PM, a candidate has to show they have a simple majority of 169 seats out of the 336-member National Assembly when it is called into session in the next few weeks. The political developments come amid nationwide protests over allegations of vote rigging and result manipulation after authorities switched off mobile phone network on election day and the counting dragged on for more than two days. Analysts say there could be weeks of political uncertainty ahead in the country where the potential for violent protest – and a crackdown by the powerful military – is ever present. Click here to share on social media IPP founder Jahangir Tareen quits politics Abid Hussain Reporting from Islamabad Jahangir Khan Tareen, founder and chairperson of the Istehkam-e-Pakisan Party (IPP) has announced his retirement from politics. Tareen, a sugar baron and among the richest industrialists in the country, joined the PTI in 2011 and became the party’s general secretary. He played a key role in PTI’s 2018 electoral success. Tareen, who was once considered among the closest aides to PTI leader Imran Khan, left the party formally in 2023 and in June the same year, founded his IPP. The IPP consisted of many politicians who had defected from PTI, after the violent incidents of May 9 last year. Tareen’s IPP managed to win only two national assembly seats, of which one in a highly contentions manner. PTI has filed a petition for recounting and reviewing the results. Caretaker PM says election held in ‘free and fair manner’ Defending the vote amid allegations of rigging, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar says the government “did not have any institutional mechanism either in fear or favour of an entity, political group or individual”. “But I agree that the future parliament should focus more on the electoral process, the system of balloting and rest of the issues affiliated with it. I personally feel we should have a more robust and financially independent election commission,” he said. Click here to share on social ‘Will be very difficult for Khan and army to reconcile’ Farzana Sheikh, a specialist on Pakistani politics and economy, told Al Jazeera’s Inside Story that Imran Khan and army chief Asim Munir’s “dislike for one another is now pretty well established”. This will likely make it “very difficult” to set aside Munir’s grievances, unless there is “there is real political will on the part of political parties” to put their heads together for dealing with the problems facing the country, said Sheikh. At the same time, many of the cases against Khan have holes, and will go to higher courts where they may be put under more scrutiny, making his release from jail a possibility, noted Sheikh Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/12/pakistan-post-election-crisis-live-parleys-and-protests-after-tense-vote

At least 67 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air and sea attacks on Rafah early on Monday, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. The Israeli army says it rescued two captives from a house in Rafah’s Shaboura neighbourhood overnight. Israeli snipers have killed seven people inside Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, the spokesman for Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel’s planned ground offensive on Rafah would “blow up” the captive exchange negotiations, the Al-Aqsa television channel quoted a senior Hamas leader as saying on Sunday. Israel’s attacks on Gaza have killed at least 28,340 Palestinians and wounded 67,984 others since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas-led attacks stands at 1,139. Israel’s attacks part of plan to expel Palestinians from their land: Turkey The Turkish Foreign Ministry has said that it is “extremely concerned” over Israel’s intensifying strikes on Rafah in Gaza’s south, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering. “We are extremely concerned by Israel’s escalating attacks on the southern city of Rafah, following the destruction and massacres it has already inflicted on the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said in a statement. “We consider this operation as part of a plan to expel the people of Gaza from their own land,” it added. “We call on the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to take the necessary steps to stop Israel,” the statement also said. Click here to share on social media Israel urges UN agencies help evacuate civilians from Gaza war zones Israel has called on UN relief agencies to help with its efforts to evacuate civilians from Gaza war zones ahead of its planned ground sweep of Rafah, a town on the enclave’s border with Egypt which is crowded with displaced Palestinians. “We urge UN agencies to cooperate,” government spokesperson Eylon Levy said in a briefing. “Don’t say it can’t be done. Work with us to find a way.” Click here to share on social media Israel wants to reshape demographic balance by killing Palestinians: Shtayyeh Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has said that by “killing, destroying, and trying to displace Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, Israel wants to reshape the demographic balance to its advantage, after it shifted in favour of Palestine, for the first time since 1948”, according to the Wafa news agency. Speaking at the beginning of the weekly cabinet session held in Ramallah, Shtayyeh said that the past 400 days were the bloodiest in the contemporary history of Palestine. “We have more than 100,000 Palestinians killed, wounded and missing in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and more than 640 in the West Bank,” he claimed. “There are also more than 10,000 detainees, and these are not numbers, but rather they indicate children, women, the elderly, young men and women, and they indicate our families and our people, each of them has a history, status, and name, and had a future that was killed by Israel.” Click here to share on social media Rescuing captives is a ‘moral obligation’: Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari has issued a statement in which he said the overnight rescue mission “underscores the importance of our ground operation in Gaza, including Rafah, when conditions allow”. He added that the Israeli military has a “moral obligation” to bring all the captives home, an obligation it will continue to do everything in its power to fulfil. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah on February 12, 2024 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] Click here to share on social media Israeli snipers kill seven in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis: Ministry The spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza says Israeli snipers have killed seven people inside Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, where heavy fighting has been reported in recent days. “No one can move in the yards of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis,” Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement on Telegram. “Israeli snipers killed seven citizens and wounded 14 staff and displaced people inside the yard [of the hospital],” he added. He said that ceilings in the dormitory and operations departments collapsed as a result of the explosions around the hospital. “We need the protection of the technical staff to move in the yard of the hospital to repair the sewage network,” al-Qudra said. Click here to share on social media Israeli protesters block Gaza-bound humanitarian aid Dozens of protesters are blocking trucks carrying vital humanitarian aid from entering Israel from Egypt at the Nitzana border crossing, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported. In recent weeks, there have been regular protests to block aid to the Gaza Strip, in particular at the Karam Abu Salem border crossing, known as Kerem Shalom in Israel. Protesters often include family members of captives being held by Hamas who demand that their release should come before any more humanitarian aid can cross. Families of captives and supporters protest against the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza in Nitzana, Israel, January 30, 2024 [File: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters] Click Israeli forces arrest 35 Palestinians: Advocacy group Israeli security forces have arrested at least 35 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since Sunday night, including a wounded minor and a former prisoner, according to an advocacy group. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said on Telegram that the arrests were mostly in the city of Hebron, while others were made in the cities of Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin and Qalqilya, as well as in East Jerusalem. Click here to share on social media Al-Quds Brigades says it killed Israeli troops in ambush The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad says its fighters ambushed Israeli troops early on Monday morning in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where intense fighting has been reported in recent days. “Immediately upon the [Israeli] forces’ arrival at the site of the ambush, [al-Quds Brigades] attacked them with machineguns, antipersonnel shells, fortifications and explosive devices, leaving the enemies dead and wounded,” al-Quds Brigades said in a

A pod of at least 10 killer whales appears to be trapped by sea ice off Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, public broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday. Officials from the coastal town of Rausu said they have no way to rescue the orcas, which were first spotted by a local fisherman, NHK reported. “We have no choice but to wait for the ice to break up and for them to escape that way,” a Rausu official told NHK. A local fisherman contacted the Rausu Coast Guard Station on Tuesday morning to report seeing a killer whale stuck by the ice drift not far from the shore, NHK reported citing the local coast guard. Drone footage shared Tuesday by a local wildlife organization, Wildlife Pro LLC, shows the whales struggling in a small gap between ice flows. The organization said it encountered the whales while doing marine research, according to a statement on Facebook. “I saw about 13 killer whales with their heads sticking out of a hole in the ice,” a Wildlife Pro LLC employee, who filmed the video, told NHK. “They seemed to be struggling to breathe, and it looked like they included three or four calves.” A lack of wind in the area has meant the ice trapping the orcas has remained stagnant. Sea ice hugs the coast of Hokkaido every winter, and is the lowest latitude sea ice in the world, but over recent years levels have been declining as global warming accelerates. In 2005, a group of killer whales were also trapped in drift ice off the coast of the town and later died, according to NHK, citing Rausu town officials Source:https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/06/asia/killer-whales-trapped-sea-ice-japan-intl/index.html

At least 22 people feared killed in two attacks on candidates’ political offices in Balochistan province. Pakistan gears up to hold closely watched elections for national and provincial assemblies on Thursday. A major crackdown on the biggest opposition party and its leader, former PM Imran Khan, has fuelled concerns that the polls will not be free and fair. Voters will cast their ballots for two legislators to represent their constituency – one federally and the other provincially. There are 5,121 candidates contesting for the federal legislature and 12,695 for the provinces. When are the elections? A reminder that Pakistan elections for the national and provincial assemblies will be taking place tomorrow, February 8. Polls will open at 8am (05:00 GMT) and scheduled to close at 5pm (12:00 GMT). Polling may be extended in some areas as permitted by the election commission. Click here to share on social media First blast caused by IED attached to motorcycle: Minister The bomb blast in Pishin was the result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to a motorcycle, Balochistan’s caretaker information minister, Jan Achakzai, told ARY News. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least 12 people and wounded many others. Click here to share on social media A second blast reported in Balochistan province We’re getting reports of a second blast targeting a candidate’s office in Balochistan province. Jan Achakzai, caretaker information minister for the province, told broadcaster ARY News that at least 10 people have been killed in this blast reported to have taken place in Qila Saifullah. Earlier today, a blast in the Pishin district killed at least 12 people. Click here to share on social media Blast in Balochistan: What we know so far The bomb blast in Balochistan comes less than 24 hours before Pakistan goes to the polls to elect the national assembly as well as the four provincial assemblies. Here is what we know so far about the attack: The blast took place in the Khanozai area of the Pishin district, near the office of an independent election candidate. At least 12 people have been killed and multiple people injured. Some of the wounded are said to be in serious condition. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Click What explains the dramatic rise in armed attacks in Pakistan? As we’ve been reporting, at least 12 people have been killed in a blast at an independent candidate’s office in Balochistan province. The bombing came despite the deployment of tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces across Pakistan to ensure peace following a recent surge in attacks in the country. Attacks on security forces have also increased. Here is a piece that looks at the dramatic rise in armed attacks in Pakistan. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/7/pakistan-election-2024-one-day-out-live Click here to share on social media

Concerns are mounting over an Israeli ground invasion of southern Rafah city – home to an estimated 1.4 million displaced Palestinians – as the UN warns of a “large scale” loss of life. Hamas responded “positively” to the framework of a proposal for the latest truce in the Gaza war, but Qatar and the US say any deal will take time. US Secretary of State Blinken is in Israel to discuss Hamas’s response to the proposed truce deal and an Israel-Hamas prisoner swap after visits to Egypt and Qatar. At least 27,585 people have been killed and 66,978 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139. Hamas does not want anything short of a prolonged ceasefire Hashem Ahelbarra Doha Hamas’s document was leaked earlier today and I know from our sources that the bulk of this is authentic. It is different from the previous agreement, as it is based on phases. It is very important for Hamas because they believe this time anything short of a prolonged ceasefire is a big no. The situation is delicate for the Americans. The reason Blinken is going to Israel is to put pressure on the Israelis to accommodate some of those demands for this deal to move forward. Ultimately, it is about how this deal will be perceived by the Israelis and by the Palestinians. It’s very crucial for the political survival of Hamas and more so for Netanyahu. Click here to share on social media Dozens of Palestinian fighters killed in Gaza: Israeli military Israel’s military says the fighters were killed in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis over the past 24 hours. Israeli soldiers had located large quantities of weapons and uncovered more tunnel shafts in the area, the military said in a statement. A picture taken from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip shows smoke rising over buildings in Khan Younis following Israeli bombardment on February 4, 2024 [Said Khatib/AFP] Click List of key events, day 124 On the 124th day of Israel’s war on Gaza, here are some key developments: Local sources reported on Tuesday that six civilians were killed in Israeli shelling that targeted their vehicle in the Khirbat al-Adas neighbourhood in Rafah city, in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Saudi Arabia said it will not have diplomatic relations with Israel unless there is an independent Palestinian state. The US House of Representatives rejected a Republican-led bill to provide $17.6bn in assistance to Israel on Tuesday. Israeli forces on Tuesday shot dead 18-year-old Palestinian Mahmoud Soud Titi at the Beit Furik checkpoint, east of Nablus, after he allegedly attempted a stabbing attack, Wafa reported. Read the rest of the list here. A girl checks a roster of the names of families due to receive bedding supplies from a refugee shelter in Rafah [AFP] Click here to share on social media Israel will likely want more rounds of talks after Hamas truce response Rory Challands Reporting from occupied East Jersalem This response was passed from Hamas through Qatar to the Mossad, and it’s being picked apart and analysed by the Israeli leadership right now and for the hours to come. What we don’t know yet is what their response is likely to be. We get the impression from the Qataris that they are optimistic, that this is something that can achieve a breakthrough deal. There is less optimism coming from the Americans – and there is much less optimism coming from the Israelis. It is hard to square the details that we are getting from this leaked document and Hamas’s overall demand, which is essential that Israel ends the war in return for the exchange of captives and a ceasefire. Israel’s war goals are to keep its occupation in Gaza and to eliminate Hamas as a military force. These two things don’t seem reconcilable. So we may well have more rounds of negotiations to go. Click Israeli air strikes over Homs killed and wounded civilians: Syrian military We are getting more details on the air strikes on Syria’s Homs city: Syrian state news agency SANA quoted an unidentified military official as saying the strikes late Tuesday damaged both private and public property, without giving additional details. Israeli fighter jets reportedly struck the Syrian city and countryside, flying from over the Mediterranean Sea near the Lebanese coastal city of Tripoli. The pro-government Sham FM radio station said the areas struck included the affluent al-Malaab neighbourhood and Hamra Street. It said Israel hit farmland in al-Waer, causing fires but no casualties. Britain-based pro-opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Humanitarian Rights said at least six civilians were killed, among them a woman and a child, as well as two Hezbollah fighters. At least nine explosions were heard in Homs and its outskirts where Hezbollah is reportedly present. Click Hamas seeks prisoner-captive exchange, Israeli forces withdrawal Al Jazeera has seen Hamas’s counterproposal to a truce deal. The Palestinian group suggests a three-stage ceasefire plan in response to the offer presented by Qatari and Egyptian mediators after negotiations with Israel and the US. Here is a summary of the proposal: According to the counterproposal, all Israeli women captives, males under 19, the elderly and the sick would be released during the first 45-day phase in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails. The remaining male captives would be freed during the second phase, and the remains of those killed in fighting exchanged in the third phase. By the end of the third phase, Hamas would expect the sides to have reached an agreement on an end to the war. Hamas said in an addendum to the proposal it wants the release of 1,500 prisoners, one-third of whom it will select from a list of Palestinians handed life sentences by Israel. The truce would also increase the flow of food and other aid to Gaza. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/7/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-pounds-gaza-as-truce-diplomacy-continues

At least two terrorists, including ring leader Ayubullah also known as Mansoor, were gunned down by security forces on the night of February 5 and 6 in in Khyber Pakhunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. In a statement released on Tuesday, the military’s media wing said that the forces conducted an intelligence-based operation on the reported presence of terrorists. “During the conduct of operation, intense fire exchange took place between own troops and terrorists as a result of which two terrorists were sent to hell including Terrorist ring leader Ayubullah @Mansoor,” the statement read. The ISPR stated that it also recovered weapons, ammunition and explosives from the killed terrorists who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities including target killing as well as extortion and abduction of innocent civilians. “A sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area,” the media wing of the armed forces said. The military added that their services for the security and protection of the district including the IBO were appreciated by the locals, who expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism. As Pakistan moves towards decisive general polls on February 8, the rising fears of the law and order situation worsening in various parts of the country continue to loom, particularly with regard to KP and Balochistan, where the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has declared numerous polling stations sensitive. At least 10 policemen were martyred and six others were injured in a late-night attack on a police station in KP’s Dera Ismail Khan district. Pakistani districts along the border with Afghanistan have seen a dramatic spike in attacks since the Taliban returned to power there in 2021. Islamabad claims Kabul is sheltering allied militants such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) allowing them to strike on its soil with impunity. According to the statistics issued by the Department of Interior and Tribal Affairs KP, the areas most affected by terrorism include Peshawar, Khyber, Bajaur, and Tank while Dera Ismail Khan and North Waziristan and South Waziristan are included in the terror-affected areas. The documents of the Home and Tribal areas revealed that a total of 1,050 incidents of terrorism took place in KP last year while 419 incidents of terrorism took place in the arranged districts, and 631 incidents in the merged districts. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1155107-security-forces-gun-down-2-terrorists-in-n-waziristan

The Turkish police have killed two people who allegedly attacked a court in Istanbul in what authorities labelled a “terrorist act”. The incident on Tuesday morning also saw six people injured, including three police officers, officials said, blaming it on the leftist armed group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C). end of list Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that the shooters were killed in a gun battle after they opened fire on a checkpoint near the Caglayan court in Istanbul. The suspects, a man and a woman identified only as EY and PB, were alleged members of the DHKP-C, enlisted as a “terrorist group” in Turkey, he said. The DHKP-C has waged a campaign against the Turkish state since the 1980s. Footage from the scene in the aftermath of the incident showed a heavy police presence at the entrance to the court, with entry and exit points closed. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said prosecutors had launched an investigation into the attack. Unrest The attack is the latest to hit Turkey as the war in Gaza spreads tensions across the Middle East. It follows closely in the wake of several other armed attacks in Turkey. Masked gunmen, purportedly members of ISIL (ISIS), stormed a church in Istanbul last month during Sunday mass and killed one person. Authorities have since arrested many people over suspecting their involvement in the attack or links to the group. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) armed group, which has also waged a bloody campaign against the Turkish government for decades, launched a suicide attack on the Ministry of Interior’s building in capital Ankara in October. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/6/two-shooters-dead-in-turkey-courthouse-attack

Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 107 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza in last 24 hours. US Secretary of State Blinken visits Egypt and Qatar to push for a deal between Israel and Hamas on a truce and the release of captives in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel. “There is nothing left,” says the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, describing leveled infrastructure in northern Gaza. UN truck carrying food supplies is hit by Israeli navy fire. At least 27,585 people have been killed and 66,978 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139. Attack reported south of Yemen’s Aden: UKMTO The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency received a report of an attack 50 nautical miles (92km) south of Yemen’s Aden. Authorities are investigating the incident and no further details were provided. It remains unclear who is behind the attack. Yemen’s Houthi rebels have regularly targeted vessels in the region in a show of solidarity with Palestinians facing Israeli attacks in Gaza. Click here to share on social media 6,870 people arrested in occupied West Bank since Gaza war began Israeli forces arrested 1,236 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including 30 women and 73 children, in the past month. This brings the number of detainees in the occupied territory since October 7 to 6,870, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says. Those arrested and their families were subjected to attacks that included severe beatings, and the use of relatives as hostages to pressure a wanted person to turn themselves in, it said. Thousands of Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons [File: Mahmoud Issa/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images] Click here to share on social media Voices from the occupied West Bank: ‘They’re forcing us into islands’ In the last instalment of Al Jazeera’s conversations with Palestinians living under occupation, respondents aired their fears and frustrations at life under what many rights organisations have classified as “apartheid”. The eldercare worker who never thought he would work in Israel. The agricultural union worker who sees an Israeli annexation plan unfolding in the occupied West Bank’s most fertile area. The interior designer whose sadness and anger threaten to overwhelm him sometimes. The proud father and grandfather who, for the first time in his life, is not sure he can provide for his family. And the communications manager who doesn’t understand why the world condemns Palestinian resistance. Together they and others in this series speak from the heart about what it means to be Palestinian. Read their stories here. Settler violence has sharply increased in the occupied West Bank since October 7 [Dylan Hollingsworth/Al Jazeera] Click here to share on social media Displaced Palestinians set up tents by Egyptian border Over the past week, some 200,000 Palestinians fled the targeted city of Khan Younis to Rafah with the population swelling to 1.4 million. Severe overcrowding of the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip led to more recent arrivals of displaced people to set up their tents right beside Egypt’s border wall. Haneen al-Athamneh, a resident of Beit Hanoon in northern Gaza, told Maan news agency she and her family had been displaced several times before reaching Rafah. “There are no services here. There is no food and only water is available through an Egyptian water line. We arrived a week ago after the Israeli army forced us to leave at gunpoint.” Palestinian children wait to receive food in Rafah, southern Gaza [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters] Click here to share on social media Israeli far-right protesters attempt to block aid bound for Gaza Despite the Israeli army announcing the area as a closed military zone, dozens of Israeli demonstrators are attempting to prevent humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip on Israel’s side of the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing. Videos posted on social media show protesters waving Israeli flags as they surround aid trucks waiting to cross. Israeli protests attempting to block aid entering Gaza have been ongoing for weeks. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/6/israels-war-on-gaza-live-staggering-destruction-in-north-gaza-unrwa

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