Latest news with #KamalHyder
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
Nearly 200 people killed in Pakistan in heavy rains, flash floods
The death toll from heavy monsoon rains that have triggered landslides and flash floods across northern Pakistan has risen to at least 194 people, according to the disaster authority. Most of the deaths, 180, were recorded in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan, with another five killed in the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan and nine in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, it said. Earlier, the authority had said 78 people died in the flood-hit Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The government said a helicopter on a rescue mission in the flood-hit province crashed due to the bad weather, killing the five crew members. Reporting from Islamabad, Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder said the helicopter was a military aircraft. 'This was a Pakistani military helicopter that was involved in a rescue operation. Helicopters are being used to help people in areas that are hard to access,' he said. Hundreds evacuated Dozens of people were injured as the deluge destroyed homes in villages in Buner, where authorities declared a state of emergency on Friday. Rescuers evacuated 1,300 stranded tourists from the mountainous Mansehra district, which was hit by landslides on Thursday. At least 35 people were reported missing in these areas, according to local officials. Nine more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, authorities said. The Meteorological Department issued a heavy rain alert for the northwest, urging people to avoid 'unnecessary exposure to vulnerable areas'. Floods in India-administered Kashmir The annual monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, which is vital for agriculture and food security but also brings destruction. Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September. In India-administered Kashmir, rescuers continued to search for survivors under boulders and debris on Friday, a day after sudden floods triggered by heavy rains killed at least 60 people and left 200 missing. Gushing mudslides and floodwaters inundated the village of Chasoti on Thursday, washing away pilgrims who had gathered for lunch before trekking up a hill to a popular religious site in the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little more than a week. The Himalayas are prone to floods and landslides, but some scientists said the intensity and frequency of these events are increasing due to climate change.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
More than 160 people killed in Pakistan in heavy rains, flash floods
The death toll from heavy monsoon rains that have triggered landslides and flash floods across northern Pakistan has risen to at least 164 people, according to the disaster authority. Most of the deaths, 150, were recorded in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan, including 78 people who died in the flood-hit Buner district, the National Disaster Management Authority said on Friday. Later, a helicopter on a rescue mission in the flood-hit province crashed due to the bad weather, killing the five crew members, the government said. Reporting from Islamabad, Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder said the helicopter was a military aircraft. 'This was a Pakistani military helicopter that was involved in a rescue operation. Helicopters are being used to help people in areas that are hard to access,' he said. Hundreds evacuated Dozens of people were injured as the deluge destroyed homes in villages in Buner, where authorities declared a state of emergency on Friday. Rescuers evacuated 1,300 stranded tourists from the mountainous Mansehra district, which was hit by landslides on Thursday. At least 35 people were reported missing in these areas, according to local officials. Nine more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, authorities said. The Meteorological Department issued a heavy rain alert for the northwest, urging people to avoid 'unnecessary exposure to vulnerable areas'. Floods in India-administered Kashmir The annual monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, which is vital for agriculture and food security but also brings destruction. Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September. In India-administered Kashmir, rescuers continued to search for survivors under boulders and debris on Friday, a day after sudden floods triggered by heavy rains killed at least 60 people and left 200 missing. Gushing mudslides and floodwaters inundated the village of Chasoti on Thursday, washing away pilgrims who had gathered for lunch before trekking up a hill to a popular religious site in the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little more than a week. The Himalayas are prone to floods and landslides, but some scientists said the intensity and frequency of these events are increasing due to climate change.
Al Jazeera
17-07-2025
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
Dozens killed in Pakistan as heavy monsoon season persists
Heavy monsoon rains across Pakistan's Punjab province have killed at least 63 people and injured nearly 300 in the past 24 hours, provincial officials said, bringing the nationwide death toll from the rains to at least 159 since late June. The downpours on Thursday caused flooding and building collapses, with most of the deaths caused by the roofs of weaker homes failing. Lahore, the eastern provincial capital, reported 15 deaths, Faisalabad nine, and the farming towns of Okara, Sahiwal and Pakpattan several more. Rescue teams used boats to evacuate families from villages along riversides further south in the morning, but the water had begun to recede by the afternoon. 'Children were screaming for help, and women stood on rooftops, waving their shawls and begging to be rescued,' said Tariq Mehbood Bhatti, a 51-year-old farmer in Ladian village. Residents living in low-lying areas near the Nullah Lai River, which runs through Rawalpindi city, neighbouring the capital Islamabad, were ordered to evacuate after a sharp rise in the water level. 'Rescue teams are on standby for more evacuations,' a spokeswoman for the disaster agency said. The Rawalpindi government declared a public holiday on Thursday to keep people at home. Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Punjab's Chakwal district, said 'heavy rains [are] causing extensive damage and also loss of life' across the Punjab region. Rains have 'swept away small dams which have burst at banks,' he said, adding that the military is using helicopters to evacuate people who are now surrounded by water. 'Pakistan has seen devastating floods over the last few years. This monsoon season is not different,' Hyder added. Experts have warned that the country can see extreme weather in the coming years, he said. Since late June, the monsoon rains have killed 103 people and injured 393 in Punjab alone, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). More than 120 homes were damaged and six livestock animals killed. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) gave the toll of at least 159 deaths nationwide since June 25 and said more than 1,000 homes had been damaged. A high flood alert was issued for the Jhelum River at the northern town of Mangla, where water inflows were expected to surge to high levels, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department. Authorities warned that adjoining streams could also overflow in the next 24 hours, putting nearby communities at risk. Monsoon rains are a routine part of South Asia's climate and are essential for crop irrigation and replenishing water supplies. However, their adverse impact has worsened in recent years due to rapid urban expansion, poor drainage systems, and more frequent extreme weather events linked to climate change.
Al Jazeera
04-06-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Kashmir in the crossfire
The recent tensions between India and Pakistan has once again put Kashmir back in the a ceasefire now in place, Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder takes us through the experience of those caught in the crossfire.
Al Jazeera
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
India launches ‘Operation Sindoor', exchanges heavy fire with Pakistan
Pakistan says 26 people killed, 46 injured in attacks, while India says eight were killed in retaliatory strikes. India's military has launched 'Operation Sindoor', striking nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, prompting swift retaliation from Islamabad in the worst fighting in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed neighbours as fears of a wider, prolonged war grow. Pakistan said on Wednesday that at least 26 people were killed and 46 others injured in the Indian attacks, accusing New Delhi of committing an 'act of war'. India said at least eight people were killed by Pakistani shelling. The leaders of both countries are holding crisis meetings on Wednesday. The Indian strike and counterattack by Pakistan come amid soaring tensions, after a deadly attack last month on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad, which denied any involvement. In a statement early on Wednesday, India's government said its military had attacked 'terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed'. Advertisement 'Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,' it said. The missiles struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country's eastern Punjab province. Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said the cities of Muzaffarabad and Kotli, both in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, were among the targets of the Indian strikes. 'Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, speaking to a foreign TV network, confirmed that at least five Indian aircraft have been shot down and that a number of Indian soldiers have been taken prisoner,' Hyder said. 'Pakistan said that it would respond to any Indian attack against Pakistan, and Pakistan is now responding to that Indian attack,' he said. Sign up for Al Jazeera Breaking News Alert Get real-time breaking news alerts and stay up-to-date with the most important headlines from around the globe. Subscribe Your subscription failed. Please try again. Please check your email to confirm your subscription By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA 'Heavy shelling has now resumed on the Line of Control that separates Pakistan-administered Kashmir from Indian-administered Kashmir,' he added. A Pakistani military spokesman had earlier told the broadcaster Geo that at least five locations, including two mosques, had been hit. He also said that Pakistan's response was under way, without providing details. In Punjab, missiles hit a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur, killing a child and wounding two civilians, the military said. Advertisement International Crisis Group's Senior Analyst for India, Praveen Donthi, says that the 'escalation between India and Pakistan has already reached a larger scale than during the last major crisis in 2019' with 'potentially dire consequences'. 'Domestic emotions are high on both sides, fuelling the danger of further escalation,' he said, but 'India and Pakistan should choose diplomacy, as any further military action carries unacceptable risks.' Kashmir tensions escalate Following India's attacks, the armies of the two sides exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across their frontier in disputed Kashmir in at least three places, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting police and witnesses. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint from both sides. 'The secretary-general is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries,' Guterres's spokesperson said. 'The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.' United States President Donald Trump said the clashes were 'a shame'. 'I just hope it ends very quickly,' Trump said at the White House. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he is also closely monitoring the situation, adding that he hopes it will end 'quickly'. The eruption of violence comes amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, in the aftermath of an attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir last month. India blamed Pakistan for the violence, in which 26 men were killed, and promised to respond. Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the killings. Advertisement Nitasha Kaul, the director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Westminster, London, said the strikes are 'very concerning'. 'Once again, the worst affected are going to be the people in the region, the Kashmiris, who are caught between the competing and proprietorial and rival postures and attitudes of India and Pakistan,' Kaul told Al Jazeera. Still, she said, the escalation is 'not that surprising, because within India … there has been a domestic pressure building up for a more militarist response, given the fact that there is a particularly hyper-nationalist government in power. 'In that sense, sadly, this was a countdown to a greater escalation, and hopefully it won't proceed much further beyond what has already happened with these strikes,' Kaul added.
