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Six Migrants Found Dead of ‘Thirst’ in Tunisia Desert

FILE: Migrants crossing the Sahara desert ride on the back of a pickup truck outside Agadez, Niger, May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Joe Penney
FILE: Migrants crossing the Sahara desert ride on the back of a pickup truck outside Agadez, Niger, May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Joe Penney
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Six Migrants Found Dead of ‘Thirst’ in Tunisia Desert

FILE: Migrants crossing the Sahara desert ride on the back of a pickup truck outside Agadez, Niger, May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Joe Penney
FILE: Migrants crossing the Sahara desert ride on the back of a pickup truck outside Agadez, Niger, May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Joe Penney

The bodies of two women and four children from Niger who apparently died of thirst have been found in the desert of southwest Tunisia, an official said Thursday.

A sole survivor from the group of migrants who had left to try to find water but got lost had said they had been walking from Algeria, as a heat wave grips the region.

Tunisia is a key departure point for many migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, who cross the continent hoping to attempt the dangerous sea crossing to Europe, AFP reported.

“Two women and four children were found dead Wednesday night in the Sahara,” a senior local official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The group, who died “probably of thirst,” were found just two kilometers (one mile) from the Algerian border near the Tunisian town of Tozeur, the official added.

Devastating fires in Algeria this week have cost at least 69 lives.

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At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
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At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

At least 15 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday, security sources said.

Syria's interior ministry said the suicide bomber was an ISIS member. He entered the church, opened fire and then detonated his explosive vest, the ministry added in a statement.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two men were involved in the attack, including the one who blew himself up.

Syria's state news agency cited the health ministry as putting the preliminary casualty toll at nine dead and 13 injured.

Some local media reported that children were among the casualties.

A livestream from the site by Syria's civil defense, the White Helmets, showed scenes of destruction from within the church, including a bloodied floor and shattered church pews and masonry.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist attack.

“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,” he said in a post on X. “We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship ... and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.”