In brief: Deadly heat wave claims 1,000 in India
MUMBAI, India – A relentless heat wave has claimed more than 1,000 lives in southern India in recent weeks, officials said Tuesday, warning that the scorching temperatures would continue for several more days.
Temperatures of at least 113 degrees were also recorded in the northern capital, New Delhi, prompting meteorological officials to issue red alerts for dehydration and heat stroke in three states.
In the southern coastal state of Andhra Pradesh, which saw some of the hottest conditions in the country, 852 people have died in recent weeks, the Press Trust of India reported. More than 200 have also died in neighboring Telangana state, officials said.
In New Delhi, the scorching sun melted asphalt on a major road, causing a white-striped crosswalk to pool into black.
KABUL, Afghanistan – An all-night siege in an upscale neighborhood of Afghanistan’s capital ended in the early hours this morning with the deaths of four heavily armed Taliban attackers, and no civilians or security personnel were injured or killed, an Afghan official said.
Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayub Salangi said weapons had been seized, including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, three automatic rifles and a hand grenade.
Using his official Twitter account, Salangi said there were “no civilian or military casualties.”
Kabul’s police chief Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, speaking to reporters outside the guesthouse that was the target of the six-hour assault, said: “Before reaching their target all four attackers were killed.”
The siege ended after 5 a.m. in a sustained barrage of automatic weapons fire and a series of huge explosions that resounded across the Wazir Akbar Khan district of downtown Kabul, home to many embassies and foreign firms.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in tweets on a recognized Twitter account.
Yemeni fighters win battle for key city
SANAA, Yemen – Fighters backing Yemen’s exiled government captured a key city on the road to the port city of Aden, officials said Tuesday, the pro-government forces’ first significant victory since a Saudi-led coalition began targeting Shiite rebels in airstrikes.
The fighters took Dhale, home to the command center of the 33rd Armored Brigade, the country’s largest army unit that had been loyal to former Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh has backed the rebels, known as Houthis, in their power grab across Yemen that began last September.
Government-allied fighters seized tanks, rocket launchers and ammunition caches from the base at Dhale, 75 miles from Aden, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Libya prime minister escapes attackers
BENGHAZI, Libya – Gunmen tried to assassinate Libya’s internationally recognized prime minister on his way to the airport in the eastern city of Tobruk on Tuesday, a spokesman for his government said.
Arish Said, head of the government’s media department, said Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni’s motorcade was attacked and one of his guards was lightly wounded but that there were no fatalities.
“They managed to escape,” Said said.