Briefly

AFGHANISTAN

Prison attack death toll climbs to 39

The number of deaths resulting from an attack by militants on a prison in eastern Afghanistan has climbed to at least 39, including the assailants, a government official said. Monday's storming of the jail in Jalalabad by fighters affiliated with the Islamic State underscored that its affiliate is still a formidable presence, and it highlighted the challenges as US and NATO forces begin to withdraw following Washington's peace deal with the Taliban. Nearly 400 of the group's fighters were freed in the daylong siege before security forces restored order. On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a video meeting with the Taliban's chief negotiator, Mullah Baradar Akhund, to discuss the Afghanistan peace process. Pompeo and Baradar, who is based in Qatar, also discussed the issue of prisoners whose release by the Afghan government is demanded by the insurgents, said Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman.

SYRIA

Israeli airstrikes target army posts

Israeli helicopters fired missiles on Syrian military positions in the southern province of Quneitra on Monday, according to Israel's military and Syrian state news agency SANA. Israel's military said on Monday night that it had carried out airstrikes against targets belonging to the Syrian army, saying the attack was a response to an attempted attack a day earlier. The attack in southern Syria was carried out by Israeli fighter jets, attack helicopters and aircraft, according to a separate statement by the Israeli military. According to the report by SANA, the Israeli choppers attacked some posts of the Syrian army on the frontier between Quneitra and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, causing damage only.

SOUTH KOREA

Heavy rains displace more than 1,000

South Korea's longest spell of monsoon rain in seven years caused floods that have forced more than 1,000 people to leave their homes, killing at least 13, with a further 13 missing, authorities said on Tuesday. Deaths were reported from landslides and vehicles swept away by waters that disaster officials said inundated more than 5,750 hectares of farmland and flooded parts of key highways and bridges in the capital Seoul. President Moon Jae-in has expressed concern for citizens and public workers battling the coronavirus pandemic in the face of 42 days of monsoon rains, which weather officials said was the longest such stretch since 49 days in 2013.

Agencies - Xinhua