Pakistan blows up dikes to divert flooding
ISLAMABAD -- Military specialists blew up dikes in central Pakistan to divert swollen rivers and save cities from raging floods that have killed hundreds of people, authorities said Saturday.
In Pakistan, the breaches at the overflowing Chenab River were performed overnight as floodwaters reached Multan, a city famous for its Sufi saints. Pakistani news channels showed pictures of floodwaters gushing through the blown-up dikes.
Civil and military officials have been using helicopters and boats to evacuate marooned people since Sept. 3, when floods triggered by monsoon rains hit Pakistan and Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and neighboring India.
Pakistan's military said in a statement Saturday that it was still evacuating people and airdropping food in the districts of Multan, Muzaffargarh and Jhang.
Ahmad Kamal, the spokesman for Pakistan's National Disaster Management authority, said rains and floods had killed 280 people and injured more than 500 in Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir. He said more than 2 million people had been affected.
Embassy in Uganda warns of terror plot
NAIROBI, Kenya -- The U.S. Embassy in Uganda warned American citizens in the country Saturday to stay at home overnight as Ugandan authorities attempt to foil a possible terror attack.
The embassy in a message on its website said it is trying to assess the scope of a possible plot by the Somali militant group al-Shabab and whether members of the cell plotting the attack are still at large.
The warning did not have details of when or how the attack was to take place. The statement urged U.S. citizens to remain at home to give authorities time to establish heightened security measures.
Al-Shabab, an Islamic extremist group linked to al-Qaida, has vowed to revenge the killing of its former leader last week by a U.S. airstrike.
The Islamic extremists from Somalia four years ago bombed two World Cup viewing locations in neighboring Kampala, Uganda, killing more than 70 people. One year ago, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 67 people.
200 Islamic militants killed in Nigeria
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria -- Nigerian soldiers killed scores of Islamic extremists in a rare victory as the insurgents advanced on a town near the northeast city of Maiduguri, an officer and other witnesses said.
One officer said a feared Boko Haram commander known only as Amir was among some 200 militants killed in a battle Friday in Konduga town, 22 miles from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state and birthplace of the extremist group.
Also killed was a Boko Haram video journalist and a suicide bomber, he said.
There were no military casualties, according to the officer and a civilian self-defense group that fights alongside the soldiers. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters.
Boko Haram in recent weeks has taken a string of towns stretching more than 200 miles alongside Nigeria's northeast border with Cameroon in a new campaign to create an Islamic caliphate.
The extremists also have attacked a town and villages across the border in Cameroon, but that country's state radio said Cameroonian troops beat them off and forced them back across the border into Nigeria.
Pakistan blows up dikes to divert flooding
ISLAMABAD -- Military specialists blew up dikes in central Pakistan to divert swollen rivers and save cities from raging floods that have killed hundreds of people, authorities said Saturday.
In Pakistan, the breaches at the overflowing Chenab River were performed overnight as floodwaters reached Multan, a city famous for its Sufi saints. Pakistani news channels showed pictures of floodwaters gushing through the blown-up dikes.
Civil and military officials have been using helicopters and boats to evacuate marooned people since Sept. 3, when floods triggered by monsoon rains hit Pakistan and Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and neighboring India.
Pakistan's military said in a statement Saturday that it was still evacuating people and airdropping food in the districts of Multan, Muzaffargarh and Jhang.
Ahmad Kamal, the spokesman for Pakistan's National Disaster Management authority, said rains and floods had killed 280 people and injured more than 500 in Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir. He said more than 2 million people had been affected.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 09/14/2014