Flash Flooding Triggered by Heavy Monsoons in Northwest Pakistan Kills at Least 14 People 

Rescue workers clean the basement of a house damaged by flash flood waters in Darra Adamkhel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on July 30, 2024. (AFP)
Rescue workers clean the basement of a house damaged by flash flood waters in Darra Adamkhel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on July 30, 2024. (AFP)
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Flash Flooding Triggered by Heavy Monsoons in Northwest Pakistan Kills at Least 14 People 

Rescue workers clean the basement of a house damaged by flash flood waters in Darra Adamkhel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on July 30, 2024. (AFP)
Rescue workers clean the basement of a house damaged by flash flood waters in Darra Adamkhel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on July 30, 2024. (AFP)

Heavy monsoons in northwest Pakistan triggered flash flooding, killing at least 14 people, 11 from the same family, officials said Tuesday.

The rains in Kohat, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, flooded the basement of a house where the family slept, Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for emergency services said, adding they retrieved the bodies of a man, three women, six children, and an 11-month-old baby girl.

He said three others died in the districts of Hangu and Bajur in the same province.

Pakistan has been hit by heavy rains since early July, killing more than 60 people and damaging over 250 homes, mostly in the eastern Punjab and southwestern Baluchistan province.

Authorities warned the rains are likely to cause flash flooding next week in various parts of the country.

Still, weather forecasters say the country will receive less rain as compared to 2022 when the climate-induced downpour swelled rivers and inundated at one point one-third of Pakistan , killing 1,739, displacing nearly 8 million, and causing $30 billion in damage in the cash-strapped country.

Every year, many cities in Pakistan struggle with the annual monsoon deluge, from July through September, drawing criticism for poor government planning. The South Asian country is among the most vulnerable to climate change.



Türkiye, Armenia Make Progress in Normalization Talks

A border tower is seen in Getap, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Yerevan, on the Armenian side of the Armenian-Turkish border, Nov. 1, 2009. (Reuters)
A border tower is seen in Getap, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Yerevan, on the Armenian side of the Armenian-Turkish border, Nov. 1, 2009. (Reuters)
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Türkiye, Armenia Make Progress in Normalization Talks

A border tower is seen in Getap, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Yerevan, on the Armenian side of the Armenian-Turkish border, Nov. 1, 2009. (Reuters)
A border tower is seen in Getap, some 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Yerevan, on the Armenian side of the Armenian-Turkish border, Nov. 1, 2009. (Reuters)

Türkiye and Armenia on Tuesday resumed talks aimed at normalizing ties after a two-year lull and agreed to simplify visa rules for some passport holders, the two countries said.

Ankara severed diplomatic and commercial relations with Yerevan in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan during its war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and has deepened ties with the ethnically Turkic Azeris in recent years.

According to Reuters, since the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict ended, NATO member Türkiye has sought to revive its historically strained ties with Armenia, though it has said any normalization depends on progress in Armenia's peace talks with Azerbaijan.

Turkish and Armenian special envoys held a fifth round of negotiations on the Alican-Magara border crossing on Tuesday, the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries said in a joint statement.

They agreed to assess technical requirements for reopening the Akyaka-Akhurik border crossing to rail transport as well as simplify mutual visa procedures for diplomatic and official passport holders, the statement said.

It added the two sides reaffirmed a commitment to pursue normalisation without preconditions, but gave no date for the next round of talks.

Türkiye and Armenia have long been at odds mainly over the 1.5 million Armenians who Yerevan says were killed in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor to modern Türkiye.

Armenia says this constitutes genocide. Türkiye accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies any genocide occurred.