Pakistan Says Afghan Forces Kill 6 Civilians in Cross-Border Fire 

Residents gather after Taliban forces fired mortars at Pakistan's border town of Chaman on December 11, 2022. (AFP)
Residents gather after Taliban forces fired mortars at Pakistan's border town of Chaman on December 11, 2022. (AFP)
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Pakistan Says Afghan Forces Kill 6 Civilians in Cross-Border Fire 

Residents gather after Taliban forces fired mortars at Pakistan's border town of Chaman on December 11, 2022. (AFP)
Residents gather after Taliban forces fired mortars at Pakistan's border town of Chaman on December 11, 2022. (AFP)

Heavy gunfire and artillery shelling by Afghan border forces killed six civilians across the border in Pakistan on Sunday and wounded another 17, the Pakistan army said. 

Pakistani troops retaliated at the Chaman border crossing in southwestern Balochistan province, the army said in a statement, without giving details of any losses on the other side. 

Afghan official Noor Ahmad, in Kandahar, the province on the Afghan side of the border, told Reuters the incident was accidental and the situation had returned to normal after the two sides had a meeting. 

He gave no further details on any casualties on Afghan side. 

Afghan security sources said the clash started after Pakistani forces demanded that Afghan forces stop building a new check post on their side of the border. 

The Pakistan army statement described the incident as an "uncalled for aggression" and said Pakistani troops had responded proportionately, avoiding the targeting of civilians on the other side. 

"Afghan Border Forces opened unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons including artillery/mortar onto the civilian population," the statement said. 

Pakistan had approached Kabul to demand action to avoid a recurrence of the incident, it said. 

The busy Afghan border crossing at Chaman, used for trade and transit, was closed for some hours before reopening, officials on both sides said. The crossing was closed for several days last month after similar clashes. 



Ukraine Drones Kill Two in Russian Border Regions, Say Local Authorities

Rescuers work at the site of a logistics hub of a private delivery company hit by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Rescuers work at the site of a logistics hub of a private delivery company hit by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
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Ukraine Drones Kill Two in Russian Border Regions, Say Local Authorities

Rescuers work at the site of a logistics hub of a private delivery company hit by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Rescuers work at the site of a logistics hub of a private delivery company hit by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 13, 2026. (Reuters)

Two people were killed and several wounded as a result of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian border regions, local authorities said Wednesday.

In the city of Rostov-on-Don, a drone attack sparked a fire in a residential building and the body of a man was found in the charred remains of one of the apartments, the local governor, Yuri Slyusar, wrote on Telegram.

The Rostov region is a key military hub for Russia's four-year-long campaign on Ukraine.
Four other people, including a four-year-old child, were wounded in strikes elsewhere in the Rostov region, which sparked fires in several industrial areas.

In the border region of Belgorod, a woman was killed and a man wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a vehicle, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

The region is regularly hit with retaliatory drone strikes and was this week plunged into a massive power outage.

Russia has pummeled Ukraine nightly with hundreds of drones and missiles for most of its four-year-long offensive.

On Wednesday, Kyiv's air force said Russia fired 113 drones and three ballistic missiles at the country.

Ukraine also launches dozens of drones at Russia every night, targeting Russian military sites and energy facilities.

It sees cutting off the Kremlin's vital oil revenues, which are used to fund the army, as a legitimate response to Russia's offensive, which has killed tens of thousands of people since February 2022.


At Least 25 Killed After Crane Falls on Train in Thailand, Police Say

Wreckage at the site where a train was derailed when a construction crane collapsed and fell onto its carriages, causing several casualties, in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Wreckage at the site where a train was derailed when a construction crane collapsed and fell onto its carriages, causing several casualties, in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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At Least 25 Killed After Crane Falls on Train in Thailand, Police Say

Wreckage at the site where a train was derailed when a construction crane collapsed and fell onto its carriages, causing several casualties, in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Wreckage at the site where a train was derailed when a construction crane collapsed and fell onto its carriages, causing several casualties, in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)

A train derailed in northeastern Thailand on Wednesday after a construction crane fell on three ​of its carriages, killing at least 25 people and injuring about 80, police said.

The accident took place on Wednesday morning in the Sikhio district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, 230 km (143 miles) northeast of Bangkok, on a train from the capital bound for Ubon Ratchathani province.

"The death toll has now reached 25. The search for more bodies is ongoing," Police Colonel Thatchapon Chinnawong ‌told Reuters by phone.

Transport ‌Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said in a statement ‌that ⁠there ​were ‌195 people on board, adding that he had ordered a thorough investigation to be carried out.

Those killed were in two of the three carriages hit by the crane, he said.

The crane was working on a high-speed rail project when it collapsed and hit the passing train, causing it to derail and briefly catch fire.

Images shared by ⁠the ministry showed carriages overturned next to shrubland and firefighters extinguishing a blaze ‌as smoke billowed out.

Footage of the crash site ‍verified by Reuters shows rescue workers ‍trying to extract casualties from one of the buckled carriages, ‍with some badly injured passengers already being loaded into ambulances.

The elevated high-speed rail project, one of several under construction in Thailand, was being built above the existing rail line. Part of the collapsed crane is still ​propped up by the stanchions built to support the new rail link.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said ⁠at a press briefing that the Chinese government attached great importance to the safety of projects and personnel and was looking into the situation.

"At present, it seems that the relevant section was under construction by a Thai enterprise. The cause of the accident is still under investigation."

The high-speed rail project will connect to China through Laos.

The government said last year that more than a third of construction had been completed in the segment connecting Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, and the whole line to Nong Khai at the border with ‌Laos would be ready by 2030.


Larijani Calls Trump, Netanyahu ‘Main Killers of People of Iran’ as Russia Slams Threats

Protesters participate in a demonstration supporting protesters in Iran, in front of the US Consulate, Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)
Protesters participate in a demonstration supporting protesters in Iran, in front of the US Consulate, Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)
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Larijani Calls Trump, Netanyahu ‘Main Killers of People of Iran’ as Russia Slams Threats

Protesters participate in a demonstration supporting protesters in Iran, in front of the US Consulate, Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)
Protesters participate in a demonstration supporting protesters in Iran, in front of the US Consulate, Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)

A senior Iranian official responded Tuesday to US President Donald Trump’s latest threat to intervene in deadly protests, saying that the US and Israel will be the ones responsible for the death of Iranian civilians.

Shortly after Trump’s social media post urging Iranians to “take over” government institutions, Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker who serves as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, posted on X: “We declare the names of the main killers of the people of Iran: 1- Trump 2- Netanyahu.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry called Trump's threats “categorically unacceptable.”

The ministry warned in a statement that any such strikes would have “disastrous consequences” for the situation in the Middle East and global security.

It also criticized what it called “brazen attempts to blackmail Iran’s foreign partners by raising trade tariffs.”

The statement noted that the protests in Iran had been triggered by social and economic problems resulting from Western sanctions.

It also denounced “hostile external forces” for trying to “exploit the resulting growing social tension to destabilize and destroy the Iranian state” and charged that “specially trained and armed provocateurs acting on instructions from abroad” sought to provoke violence.

The ministry voiced hope that the situation in Iran will gradually stabilize and advised Russian citizens in the country not to visit crowded places.