Hundreds of people have died amid escalation in the Middle East - casualties reported in 7 countries
Kyiv • UNN
Hundreds of people, including children and teachers, have died amid escalation in the Middle East - casualties reported in 7 countries.
Hundreds of people, including children and school teachers, have died in recent days after the US and Israel launched a fierce bombing campaign against Iran, destroying the country's supreme leader. Tehran retaliated with attacks on American airbases in the region, while the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for shelling Israel from Lebanon, UNN reports, citing CNN.
Details
Images emerged of huge grey clouds of smoke hanging over buildings, severely damaged hospital wards, and entire homes devastated, as communities struggled to come to terms with the death and destruction.
Here's what the publication reports about the death toll in the region:
- Iran: At least 787 people have died in US and Israeli bombings across Iran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Iranian Red Crescent. Among the dead were 168 children and 14 teachers after a strike on a girls' elementary school on Saturday, state media reported;
- Lebanon: On Monday, the Lebanese government reported that at least 52 people had died and 154 were injured in Israeli strikes across Lebanon;
- Israel: According to Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service, at least 10 people have died and more than 200 have been injured in Israel since the attack on Iran;
- Iraq: At least four Popular Mobilization Forces soldiers were killed in a US-Israeli airstrike in Diyala, Iraq, the militia's media office reported on Sunday;
- Kuwait: At least nine people have died in Kuwait since Saturday, including six US servicemen, Central Command reported, and two Kuwaiti servicemen, the country's army reported on Tuesday. One person died in an attack on Sunday, the country's health ministry reported;
- UAE: At least three people have died in the United Arab Emirates, the country's Ministry of Defense reported;
- Bahrain: One person died after debris from an intercepted missile caused a fire on a "foreign vessel" in Bahrain's industrial city of Salman, Bahraini state media reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, among today's news in the region:
- Oman reported attacks on two ports in the country. According to AP, a drone struck Oman's largest port, Salalah, on Tuesday, authorities reported. The government news agency also reported that two drones were shot down in the southwestern province of Dhofar. This followed reports of a drone attack on another Omani port - Duqm. According to CNN, a fuel storage tank at the port was hit, the Omani state news agency reported, citing a security source. Authorities said the damage from the attack was under control. No casualties were reported;
- the US embassy in Saudi Arabia warned of "imminent missile and drone attacks" in the eastern city of Dhahran;
- according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked so-called counter-revolutionary groups in semi-autonomous Kurdistan in Iraq;
- Iranian news agency Mehr reported that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is alive;
- Pakistan reminded Iran of its mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia to prevent further Iranian attacks on Saudi territory, the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said today;
- the Israeli military closed all checkpoints to and from the West Bank in light of the US-Israeli war with Iran, leaving Palestinians without access to urgent aid due to increased attacks;
- according to the latest data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), the price of gasoline in the US rose by an average of 11 cents to $3.11 per gallon, the largest single-day increase since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.