Death Toll from Türkiye, Syria Quake Tops 47,000

The combined death toll in Türkiye and Syria now stands at 47,244. AFP
The combined death toll in Türkiye and Syria now stands at 47,244. AFP
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Death Toll from Türkiye, Syria Quake Tops 47,000

The combined death toll in Türkiye and Syria now stands at 47,244. AFP
The combined death toll in Türkiye and Syria now stands at 47,244. AFP

The death toll from the massive earthquake that hit parts of Türkiye and Syria on Feb. 6 continues to rise as more bodies are retrieved from the rubble of demolished buildings.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck the already battered Turkish province of Hatay this week damaged or demolished more buildings, compounding the devastation.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has raised the number of fatalities in Türkiye from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake to 43,556.

The combined death toll in Türkiye and Syria now stands at 47,244.

In an interview with state broadcaster TRT late on Wednesday, Soylu said teams were sifting through two buildings in Hatay in search of further bodies. Search operations elsewhere have come to an end, he said.

Meanwhile, at least 164,000 buildings have either collapsed or are so damaged that they need to be demolished, said Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s minister for the environment and urbanization.

Türkiye will widen an investigation into building contractors suspected of violating safety standards following the earthquake, Soylu said.

He added that 564 suspects had been identified so far, with 160 people formally arrested and many more still under investigation.

"Our cities will be built in the right places, our children will live in stronger cities. We know what kind of test we are facing, and we will come out of this stronger," he said.

The local civil defense in northwestern Syria, known locally as The White Helmets, said Thursday that thousands of children and tens of thousands of families have taken shelter in cars and tents “fearing they would face a repeat of the earthquake.”



At Least 11 Dead after Security Operations Against Militants in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
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At Least 11 Dead after Security Operations Against Militants in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER

Pakistan's security forces raided two militant hideouts in the country’s restive northwest on Saturday, triggering gun battles that left at least two soldiers and nine militants dead, the military said in a statement.
The raids were conducted in the Mohmand and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, The Associated Press reported.
According to local police officials, the insurgents were Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
The outlawed TTP is a separate group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of a withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.
Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries and have even been living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.
In a separate incident on Saturday, insurgents ambushed security forces in the northwestern Kurram district of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, local police said. However, authorities have yet to confirm any troop casualties.
Pakistan's military is currently engaged in an ongoing operation in Kurram, an area that has witnessed years of sectarian violence. Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between heavily armed factions, exacerbating tensions in the region.
Since November, Kurram has remained isolated after authorities blocked key roads following sectarian violence. The closure has led to severe shortages of medicine and food, further deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Also on Saturday, a bomb exploded outside a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing cleric Mufti Shakir, local police said. It was unclear who was behind the attack and an investigation is continuing.