Dozens Dead as Floods Ravage Southeast Asia

An aerial view shows a home surrounded by flood waters in Kangar in northern Malaysia's Perlis state on November 28, 2025. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP)
An aerial view shows a home surrounded by flood waters in Kangar in northern Malaysia's Perlis state on November 28, 2025. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP)
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Dozens Dead as Floods Ravage Southeast Asia

An aerial view shows a home surrounded by flood waters in Kangar in northern Malaysia's Perlis state on November 28, 2025. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP)
An aerial view shows a home surrounded by flood waters in Kangar in northern Malaysia's Perlis state on November 28, 2025. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP)

The toll from days of flooding in Southeast Asia rose on Friday, with at least 90 dead in Indonesia, and a hospital in southern Thailand announcing its morgue was full.

Heavy rains across Indonesia, Malaysia and southern Thailand have inundated cities, trapped thousands and caused deadly landslides.

Authorities were scrambling to reach people stranded in floodwater-filled homes or cut off entirely by debris that has blocked roads and taken out communications and electricity.

On Indonesia's Sumatra island, officials said flooding and landslides this week have killed at least 90 people, with dozens more missing.

North Sumatra police spokesman Ferry Walintukan said authorities were focused on "evacuation and providing assistance".

Access to some areas and communication was still cut off, he told AFP.

"Hopefully, the weather will clear up so we can move the helicopter to the (worst-hit) locations."

In North Sumatra's Medan, an AFP photographer saw murky brown floodwaters at hip level, and residents asking drivers passing their inundated homes to drive slowly to avoid splashing them.

Some residents donned rain ponchos and motorbike helmets to protect themselves from the rain as they traversed flooded streets.

In West Sumatra, 53-year-old Misniati described a terrifying battle against rising floodwaters to reach her husband at home.

Returning from early morning prayers at a local mosque, "I noticed the street was flooded."

"I tried to run back to my house to tell my husband, and the water was already reaching my waist," she told AFP.

She battled currents that nearly knocked her off her feet, and arrived home to find the water at chest level.

"We didn't sleep at all last night, we just monitored the water," said Misniati, who only uses one name.

The annual monsoon season, typically between June and September, often brings heavy rains, triggering landslides and flash floods.

It has been exacerbated by a tropical storm in the region in recent days.

Climate change also has impacted storm patterns, including the duration and intensity of the season, leading to heavier rainfall, flash flooding and stronger wind gusts.

A warmer climate holds more moisture, producing more intense rain events, while warmer oceans can turbocharge the strength of storm systems.

Among the hardest-hit areas in the region is southern Thailand, where flooding left residents of Hat Yai clinging to rooftops awaiting rescue by boat.

At least 55 people have been killed in the surrounding Songkhla province, and the region's main morgue said Friday it had no more room to receive bodies and was now relying on refrigerated trucks.

"The morgue has exceeded its capacity, so we need more," Charn, a morgue official at Songkhla Hospital who only gave his first name, told AFP.

An AFP journalist filmed white refrigerated trucks parked outside the hospital's main building.

Residents on Thursday described floodwaters rising rapidly.

"The water rose to the ceiling of the second floor," Kamban Wongpanya, 67, told AFP, explaining that she had to be rescued by boat.

Shopowner Chayaphol Promkleng thought at first that his business would be spared because flooding was "only ankle-deep".

He returned the following day to find his shop "flooded to waist-deep level".
"There was nothing I could do. I left the shop to save my life."

The government said Friday it had suspended Hat Yai's district chief over an alleged failure to respond to the flooding.

In Malaysia, two people have been killed in flooding caused by heavy rain that left stretches of northern Perlis state underwater.

The same weather system that passed through Indonesia, now downgraded from a tropical storm to a depression, made landfall early on Friday morning, dumping more rain on the already-sodden region.



Somaliland Denies It Will Host Palestinians, Israeli Base

This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (AFP)
This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (AFP)
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Somaliland Denies It Will Host Palestinians, Israeli Base

This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (AFP)
This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (AFP)

The breakaway region of Somaliland on Thursday denied allegations by the Somali president that it would take resettled Palestinians or host an Israeli military base in exchange for Israel recognizing its independence.

Israel last week became the first country to recognize Somaliland as an "independent and sovereign state", triggering protests across Somalia.

On Wednesday, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, citing intelligence reports, told Al Jazeera that Somaliland had accepted three conditions from Israel: the resettlement of Palestinians, the establishment of a military base on the Gulf of Aden, and joining the Abraham Accords to normalize ties with Israel.

Somaliland's foreign ministry denied the first two conditions.

"The Government of the Republic of Somaliland firmly rejects false claims made by the President of Somalia alleging the resettlement of Palestinians or the establishment of military bases in Somaliland," it said in a statement on X.

It said the deal was "purely diplomatic".

"These baseless allegations are intended to mislead the international community and undermine Somaliland's diplomatic progress," it added.

But analysts say an alliance with Somaliland is especially useful to Israel for its strategic position on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, close to the Iran-backed Houthi in Yemen, who have struck Israel repeatedly since the start of the Gaza war.

Somaliland unilaterally declared independence in 1991 and has enjoyed far more peace than the rest of conflict-hit Somalia, establishing its own elections, currency and army.

Its location alongside one of the world's busiest shipping lanes has made it a key partner for foreign countries.


Flash Floods Triggered by Heavy Rains in Afghanistan Kill at Least 17 People

Smog is seen over Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 December 2025. (EPA)
Smog is seen over Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 December 2025. (EPA)
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Flash Floods Triggered by Heavy Rains in Afghanistan Kill at Least 17 People

Smog is seen over Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 December 2025. (EPA)
Smog is seen over Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 December 2025. (EPA)

The season’s first heavy rains and snowfall ended a prolonged dry spell but triggered flash floods in several areas of Afghanistan, killing at least 17 people and injuring 11 others, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s national disaster management authority said Thursday.

The dead included five members of a family in a property where the roof collapsed on Thursday in Kabkan, a district in the Herat province, according to Mohammad Yousaf Saeedi, spokesman for the Herat governor. Two of the victims were children.

Most of the casualties have occurred since Monday in districts hit by flooding, and the severe weather also disrupted daily life across central, northern, southern, and western regions, according to Mohammad Yousaf Hammad, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority.

Hammad said the floods also damaged infrastructure in the affected districts, killed livestock, and affected 1,800 families, worsening conditions in already vulnerable urban and rural communities.

Hammad said the agency has sent assessment teams to the worst-affected areas, with surveys ongoing to determine further needs.

Afghanistan, like neighboring Pakistan and India, is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, particularly flash floods following seasonal rains.

Decades of conflict, poor infrastructure, deforestation, and the intensifying effects of climate change have amplified the impact of such disasters, especially in remote areas where many homes are made of mud and offer limited protection against sudden deluges.

The United Nations and other aid agencies this week warned that Afghanistan is expected to remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in 2026. The UN and its humanitarian partners launched a $1.7 billion appeal on Tuesday to assist nearly 18 million people in urgent need in the country.


Thousands Stage Pro-Gaza Rally in Istanbul

Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
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Thousands Stage Pro-Gaza Rally in Istanbul

Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Thousands joined a New Year's Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory.

Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city's Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: "We won't remain silent, we won't forget Palestine," an AFP reporter at the scene said.

More than 400 civil society organizations were present at the rally, one of whose organizers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police sources and Anadolou state news agency said some 500,000 people had joined the march at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song "Free Palestine".

"We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians," said Erdogan, who chairs the board of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational charity that was one of the organizers of the march.

Türkiye has been one of the most vocal critics of the war in Gaza and helped broker a recent ceasefire that halted the deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas' unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023.

But the fragile October 10 ceasefire has not stopped the violence with more than more than 400 Palestinians killed since it took hold.