At Least 10 Killed in Taliban Attacks in Afghanistan

Afghan forces. (AFP)
Afghan forces. (AFP)
TT

At Least 10 Killed in Taliban Attacks in Afghanistan

Afghan forces. (AFP)
Afghan forces. (AFP)

At least 12 people were killed on Tuesday in a suicide car bomb attack against a police headquarters in Afghanistan.

The attack targeted a police training center attached to the headquarters in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, officials said.

Officials and militants said that 60 people were wounded in the assault.

At least two attackers were also killed, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Three officials told Reuters that the provincial police chief was among the dead, but the ministry said it could only confirm that he had been wounded.

Both civilians and security forces were among the casualties, deputy public health director Hedayatullah Hameedi said.

“At the moment the area is sealed by the Crisis Response Unit and efforts are ongoing to eliminate the terrorists,” the ministry statement said.

In the western Farah province, police chief Abdul Maruf Fulad said the Taliban attacked a government compound in Shibkho district, killing three policemen.

In southern Ghazni province, the Taliban stormed a security compound, using a suicide car, and killed at least seven policemen.

Provincial chief police, Mohammad Zaman, stated that the attack in Andar district early on Tuesday morning triggered several hours of heavy fighting until the attackers were repelled.

The district compound has been destroyed, he added.



Thousands of Australians Without Power as Heavy Rain, Damaging Winds Lash Tasmania

The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)
The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)
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Thousands of Australians Without Power as Heavy Rain, Damaging Winds Lash Tasmania

The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)
The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)

Tens of thousands of people in Australia's southern island state of Tasmania were without power on Sunday after a cold front brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings.
"Around 30,000 customers are without power across the state this morning," Tasnetworks, a state-owned power company, said on Facebook on Sunday.
The nation's weather forecaster said on its website that a cold front over Tasmania, population around 570,000 people, was moving away, "although bands of showers and thunderstorms continue to pose a risk of damaging wind gusts."
Properties, power lines and infrastructure had been damaged, Tasmania's emergency management minister Felix Ellis said in a televised media conference, adding that "the damage bill is likely to be significant".
Emergency authorities issued warnings for flooding, which they said could leave Tasmanians isolated for several days, as the state prepared for another cold front forecast to hit on Sunday night, Reuters reported.
“There is potential for properties to be inundated, and roads may not be accessible," executive director of Tasmania State Emergency Service, Mick Lowe, said in a statement.
Authorities had received 330 requests for assistance in the last 24 hours, according to the agency.
Tasmania is a one-hour flight or 10-hour ferry crossing from the mainland city of Melbourne, 445 km (275 miles) away. About 40% of the island is wilderness or protected areas.