Venezuela begins evacuating thousands stranded by floods
La Guaira, Venezuela Venezuela sent helicopters and navy ships to evacuate thousands of people stranded by floodwaters Thursday as torrential rains began to ease. The death toll from three days of floods and landslides rose to 16 with thousands left homeless.
Army helicopters landed at the country’s main international airport in La Guaira, bringing hungry and shivering victims rescued along the Caribbean coast. Some covered themselves with wet blankets, while others carried babies.
More than 5,000 people were rescued along the mountainous coast in Vargas state, Defense Minister Gen. Jorge Garcia Carneiro told the Venezuelan radio station Union Radio. He said about 2,000 remained to be evacuated from coastal areas blocked by overflowing rivers.
Snow delays recovery of bodies
Kabul, Afghanistan An operation to recover the bodies of 104 people killed in the crash of an Afghan airliner one week ago still has not begun, officials said Thursday, because of days of heavy snow across the mountains of Afghanistan.
The Boeing 737 crashed into a mountaintop 20 miles east of Kabul on Feb. 3 after approaching the capital in a blizzard from the western city of Herat.
Authorities have declared all 96 passengers and eight crew dead, including more than 20 foreigners, in the country’s worst air disaster.
NATO to expand Afghanistan mission
Nice, France NATO defense ministers agreed Thursday on an expansion of the alliance’s peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and will send troops into the western parts of the country, the alliance’s top official said.
The decision was made after Italy, Spain and Lithuania agreed to send hundreds of troops under NATO command in the city of Herat and three other western Afghan cities.
Some 900 troops will be deployed to Herat and three other western cities, including 500 fresh troops and 400 deploying from elsewhere in Afghanistan. NATO currently operates only in Kabul and in the north with a total force of about 8,400 troops.
The planned deployment marks a significant step in plans for NATO to extend operations across all of Afghanistan by 2006, integrating itself with the U.S. force that invaded the country in 2001 to topple the Taliban regime.