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Russian strike kills 13 in Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia

Russian strike kills 13 in Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia
This handout photograph published on Jan. 8, 2025, on the official Telegram channel of the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration Ivan Fedorov, shows a firefighter extinguishing car in flames at the site of a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia. (AFP)
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Updated 09 January 2025

Russian strike kills 13 in Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia

Russian strike kills 13 in Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia
  • The blast left bodies strewn across a road alongside injured residents
  • Public transport was also damaged in the strike

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine: A Russian guided bomb attack on Wednesday killed at least 13 people and injured 63 in Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, authorities said.
The blast left bodies strewn across a road alongside injured residents. Public transport was also damaged in the strike.
Prosecutors in the region said 63 people had been injured. Rescue work had been completed at the site of the attack.
High-rise apartment blocks were damaged along with an industrial facility and other infrastructure, Ukraine’s prosecutor general office said on Telegram. The debris hit a tram and a bus with passengers inside, it added.
As emergency workers tried to resuscitate a man, raging flames, smoke and burnt cars could be seen in the background.
Russian troops had used two guided bombs to hit a residential area, the regional governor Ivan Fedorov told reporters.
At least four of the injured were rushed to hospital in serious condition, Fedorov said, adding that Thursday would be an official day of mourning.
“There is nothing more cruel than launching aerial bombs on a city, knowing that ordinary civilians will suffer,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X, urging Ukraine’s Western allies to step up pressure on Russia.
Regional authorities reported further explosions after the first strike hit.
Fedorov said Russian troops shelled the town of Stepnohirsk, south of Zaporizhzhia, killing two people. Two residents were pulled alive from underneath rubble.
Russia regularly carries out air strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region, which its forces partially occupy, and its capital. Moscow claims to have annexed the Ukrainian region along with four others including Crimea.
Public broadcaster Suspilne also reported two people killed and 10 injured in attacks on several centers in the southern region of Kherson, also partially occupied by Russian forces.


Five Indian nationals kidnapped in Mali

Updated 15 sec ago

Five Indian nationals kidnapped in Mali

Five Indian nationals kidnapped in Mali
The workers were kidnapped Thursday by gunmen near Kobri, in western Mali
No group has claimed the kidnappings so far

DAKAR: Gunmen have kidnapped five Indian nationals in Mali, their company and a security source said Friday, as the west African country reels from mounting unrest and militant violence.
The workers were kidnapped Thursday by gunmen near Kobri, in western Mali, the security source told AFP on condition of anonymity, saying they were employed by a company that is working on electrification projects.
“We confirm the kidnapping of five Indian nationals,” a company representative told AFP.
“The other Indians working for the company have been evacuated to Bamako,” the capital, he added.
No group has claimed the kidnappings so far.
Mali, currently ruled by a military junta, has been struggling to contain surging unrest blamed on criminal groups and militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group.
The security situation has exacerbated an economic crisis in the impoverished country, where the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has imposed a suffocating fuel blockade.
Kidnappings targeting foreigners are common in the country, which has been plagued by coups and conflicts since 2012.
JNIM militants kidnapped two Emirati nationals and an Iranian near Bamako in September.
The victims were released last week for a ransom of at least $50 million, according to sources close to the negotiations.