Rescue teams in Morocco continue relief operations and search for missing people under the rubble for the tenth day in a row, after the devastating earthquake that struck the country on the evening of September 8, resulting in 2,946 deaths and 6,125 injuries, in addition to major material destruction.
On Sunday, rescue teams in Morocco continued relief operations and searches for missing persons under the rubble for the tenth day in a row, after the devastating earthquake that struck the country on the evening of September 8.
Rescue operations are still continuing in various affected areas, as the Moroccan authorities were able, on Saturday, to rescue five shepherds who were trapped in a vast mountainous area between the provinces of Al Haouz and Chichaoua (north) and Taroudant (centre).
Channel 2 (government) said that the whereabouts of these shepherds were determined after combing and searching operations that took 48 hours in rugged terrain, and through the use of a drone.
In the town of Asni (in Al Haouz Province), the weekly market was organized on Saturday, despite the extent of the destruction in the town and neighboring villages, which constituted an opportunity for its patrons to purchase their supplies.
Blood donation operations also continued, whether with the participation of citizens or security personnel, while the Moroccan army set up school tents in the city of Amizmiz (central) and some neighboring areas.
On Thursday, the Moroccan Royal Court announced that about 50,000 homes had completely or partially collapsed due to the earthquake, pointing out the state’s readiness to provide direct financial assistance worth 140,000 dirhams (about 14,000 dollars) to owners of homes that had completely collapsed, and 80,000 dirhams (about 8,000 dollars). ) to cover the rehabilitation works of homes that partially collapsed.
Urgent assistance worth 30,000 dirhams (about 3,000 dollars) will also be provided to affected families, according to a statement issued by the Royal Court.
On the evening of September 8, an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale struck several major Moroccan cities, such as the capital, Rabat, Casablanca, Meknes, and Fez (north), and Marrakesh, Agadir, and Taroudant (center).
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Interior, the earthquake resulted in 2,946 deaths and 6,125 injuries, in addition to major material destruction.
“Sunday Times”: Khalifa Haftar, the spiritual son of Gaddafi, is accused of the Derna disaster
London : The Sunday Times published a report prepared by Matthew Campbell in which he said that Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar bears responsibility for the flood disaster caused by Hurricane Daniel, a week ago.
In a report titled “The Spiritual Son of Gaddafi: Holding the General Responsible for the Flood Disaster,” it was stated that Haftar rose from a military candidate to a confidant, then tried to turn against his master, before the CIA evacuated him by air, so that he could return before the Libyan leader was killed, and present Himself as the savior of the nation, and today the finger of blame is directed at him after the disaster.
The report stated: “When the water receded, the blankets and sheets were lined up side by side, containing children, women and men. Derna buries its dead, as injustice turns into anger among the living. The question is: Why did you leave the town vulnerable to the disaster that some predicted?
After a long battle in Benghazi, in 2018, Haftar besieged Derna and committed war crimes: “He strangled the city for a year and a half, left it without food, and subjected it to brutal bombing.
Anger is focused on the self-styled marshal, Khalifa Haftar, and his sons, who control eastern Libya, where two dilapidated dams collapsed, causing a flood that swept most of Derna into the sea. According to the Libyan Red Crescent Society, Monday's disaster killed about 11,300 people in Derna, and 10,000 are missing.
“Haftar’s group describes it as a natural disaster, but public opinion knows the individuals responsible,” says Virginie Colomber, of the Luis Guido Carli University in Rome and editor of the book “Violence and Social Transformation in Libya.” Large budgets were allocated for repair and maintenance, but nothing worked.”
Anas Al-Qamati, from the Al-Sadiq Institute in Tripoli, said: “They failed to maintain the two dams,” and “those responsible must be investigated for their criminal negligence and corruption.”
The newspaper comments that Haftar (79 years old) is an American citizen, has an appetite for military adventures, and has no interest in the details of governance. And its focus on one ambition; Filling the void left by the former ruler of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed in 2011 after NATO intervention in the “civil war.”
She comments that the strong military man's attempt to control power has become like a game of poker. He first received support from the French and Americans, then from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, which was trying to take advantage of the country located on the southern edge of NATO, and seemed to have all the cards in the game of ace or jack.
After years of “civil war” and chaos, it only controlled the eastern part of Libya, while the internationally recognized government administered the western regions. Haftar's forces came close to controlling the capital, Tripoli, in 2020, when he was forced to make a humiliating withdrawal, as mercenaries affiliated with the Russian Wagner group decided to leave the battle lines, after the intervention of Turkey, which raised the stakes after joining the fight on the other side.
American intelligence organized an air evacuation for Haftar following the Chad War, and he was granted American citizenship and settled in Langley, Virginia, close to the CIA headquarters.
Perhaps the flood turned out to be his greatest failure . “We should not expect people to be patient with the political class forever,” says Oliver Crowley, co-director of Libya Desk, a risk analysis group. “I'm starting to hear calls for international investigations into what happened,” said Tim Eaton, of Chatham House in London. “Haftar's forces are said to have opposed the evacuations from the city, and people are looking for someone to hold responsible.” He added, “Haftar’s military uniform is decorated with all ranks, but his military record is far from being glorious,” and “when it comes to the combat side, he was not good.”
He made a promising start as a candidate in the army, in 1969, when he participated in Gaddafi's coup against the monarchy, and ended up becoming one of the dictator's most important officers. Gaddafi told a journalist about Haftar, “He is my son,” and I am “like his spiritual father.”
However, things began to deteriorate for him, especially when Gaddafi appointed him commander of the Libyan forces in Chad, during what was known as the “Toyota War” in 1987, when the two countries fought a war to control a strategic border region. The name was given because of the Land Cruisers that the Chadians used and took control of Haftar’s base, where they captured him and 400 of his soldiers. He was angry when Gaddafi abandoned him. In retaliation, Haftar decided to launch a coup from Chad against the leader. US President Ronald Reagan had described Gaddafi as “the mad dog in the Middle East,” and approved a secret plan to support dissidents.
With the support of the CIA, Haftar established the National Salvation Army in Chad and planned to invade Libya. However, some warned Gaddafi, and the dictator was one step ahead of Haftar. He arranged a counter-coup in Chad, destroyed the opposition regime in N’Djamena, and the coup plotters dissolved. Haftar's army. US intelligence organized an air evacuation of Haftar and 350 of his men, where they were transported to Zaire or the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Haftar was granted American citizenship, and settled in Langley, Virginia, close to the CIA headquarters. Little is known about his activities and services to the CIA in America. According to an intelligence source, “after Chad, they [the CIA] agreed to take care of him and find a home for him and his family,” and “he was no longer a valuable asset, and there was a degree of skepticism.” "Turn it around."
After two decades in America, in 2011, he decided to return to Libya, where the uprising against Gaddafi spread, but he did not receive support from the interim government to lead the army against the former regime, and he decided to return to Virginia, saying that he would devote his time to taking care of his grandchildren. As the situation in the country collapsed into chaos and militia and tribal loyalties, Haftar announced, in a video, a military coup against the central government, in which he declared about its inability to confront the Islamists and their groups that emerged after the death of Gaddafi.
He was ridiculed because he was not in Libya when the coup was announced. This did not prevent him from presenting himself as the savior of the homeland, and he appointed himself commander of the Libyan National Army in order to confront Ansar al-Sharia, which is accused of carrying out the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi.
Peter Millett, the British ambassador to Libya between 2015 and 2018, said: “He made himself an important warlord, with international support.” Millett met Haftar several times during his work in Libya, and “encouraged him to adopt a political, not military, path.”
After a long battle in Benghazi, Haftar besieged Derna in 2018, and Al-Gamati accused him of committing war crimes: “He strangled the city for a year and a half, left it without food, and subjected it to brutal bombing.”
At the twilight stage of his political career, it seems that he is preparing one of his five children to succeed him, and appointed him commander of the militia accused of horrific crimes and violations, and of robbing a $750 million bank in Benghazi.
Discontent remained swirling in the city , which had 90,000 people before the disaster, and treated the town with caution. It was said that one of his sons ordered it closed when Hurricane Daniel appeared to be coming. The discontent increased when it was revealed that a meeting was held to discuss the flood five days before the disaster. Experts spoke of negligence in maintaining the bridge and the dangers of disaster.
A poet, who attended the meeting at the House of Culture in Derna, published a poem on his Facebook page, in which he compared rain to an alarm, and he died in the flood.
The newspaper asked about Haftar’s ability to prevent people’s anger after his failure to prevent the flood?
In the twilight stage of his political career, it seems that he is preparing one of his five sons, Saddam, to succeed him, and appointed him as the leader of the militia accused of horrific crimes and violations, and of stealing $750 million from the treasury of a bank in Benghazi, in 2017.
It appears that his eldest son, Al-Siddiq, is involved in the family’s intervention in Sudan. At the beginning of the year, he appeared in the capital, Khartoum, alongside Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Hemedti, commander of the Rapid Support Forces, who receives support from Wagner.
Despite Haftar's links with America, Washington distanced itself from him, fearing that it would give mixed signals about its support for the internationally recognized government. But this did not prevent US Intelligence Director William Burns from making a rare visit to Libya, where he met with the Prime Minister of the Western government, Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, in Tripoli, before flying to Benghazi to meet Haftar. He did not reveal what happened between them.
Hurricane Derna : The United Nations announces that the deaths have reached 11 thousand people, and a Libyan minister denies
Tripoli : The discrepancy in the numbers of deaths from the Libyan city of Derna is still prevalent in all announced official and unofficial statistics, as while some authorities, led by the United Nations, announced huge numbers of deaths, some official authorities contented themselves with mentioning numbers less than Numbers I mentioned previously, which raised the astonishment and bewilderment of many at a time when journalists and the media are eager to know more information about the tragedy that befell the Libyan city of Derna and the entire Libyan East.
The floods that struck eastern Libya caused the death and loss of thousands, and the destruction of infrastructure, especially in the city of Derna, which is still isolated due to the destruction of the roads leading to it, making it difficult for rescue teams and humanitarian supplies to reach it. Communications were also completely cut off from the city, in addition to electricity. .
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the death toll from the floods that struck Libya rose to 11,300 people in the city of Derna only. The office added that 10,100 people are still missing in Derna, while 170 people died elsewhere in eastern Libya. She added: “This toll is expected to rise as search and rescue work continues to find survivors.”
The Minister of Health in the government of eastern Libya, Othman Abdel Jalil, announced on Saturday evening that 3,252 deaths had been recorded, an increase of 86 deaths over the previous toll 24 hours earlier. Speaking to reporters in Derna, he reiterated that his ministry alone is authorized to issue death tolls, stressing that the high numbers reported by other sources have no credibility, without clarifying the identity of the sources he is referring to.
The official Libyan News Agency said that the team assigned by the National Unity Government to survey the damage in the city of Derna estimated the total number of buildings damaged by torrents and floods at about 1,500 out of a total of 6,142 buildings in the city.
The team explained in preliminary statistics that the number of completely destroyed buildings reached 891, partially 211, and about 398 buildings submerged in mud. The total area of the area inundated by torrents and floods in Derna is estimated at six square kilometers.
The International Organization for Migration said on Wednesday that at least 30,000 people were left homeless in the city of Derna in the east of the country due to the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Daniel.
The organization added that thousands of others have become homeless in neighboring cities.
Hurricane Daniel hit eastern Libya strongly, and large amounts of rain fell, leading to the collapse of two dams near Derna, releasing raging waters that on their way to the sea destroyed large areas of the city and swept away residential buildings, leaving thousands dead and missing in the worst floods the country has ever witnessed. The Libyan Attorney General, Al-Siddiq Al-Sur, confirmed that criminal cases will be brought against those responsible for the Derna Dam disaster, whoever they may be.
Al-Sour said in a press conference on Friday night, “The Attorney General’s Office has extensive studies on the history of the two dams, and we have begun summoning the Dams Administration and the Authority responsible for water resources.”
The Attorney General noted that the investigations are focusing on the funds allocated for the maintenance of the two dams, stressing that the office has reports that included the presence of cracks in the two dams and their need for maintenance.
Al-Siddiq Al-Sur said, “The investigations include successive local authorities into any negligence or negligence that led to the collapse of the two dams. We will announce the details and take measures regarding those who caused this disaster as soon as the investigations are completed.”
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross mission in Libya, Jan Fredes, said that the disaster “was very violent,” adding that “a wave seven meters high swept buildings and infrastructure into the sea,” noting that there were “bodies being thrown by the waves on the beach.”
The torrential floods destroyed all the bridges connecting the two banks of the city, and most of the buildings, buildings, and houses located on both banks of the valley. Most of the roads leading into the city were also cut off. A video recording, broadcast by the Libyan News Agency, showed scenes of the remains of one of the two dams in Derna that were destroyed by torrential waters resulting from the devastating Hurricane “Daniel” that swept through the cities of eastern Libya.
Arab and foreign rescue teams present in the stricken city of Derna succeeded in rescuing dozens of people from under the rubble about a week after Hurricane Daniel, whose waters trapped the victims under collapsed buildings.
The mayor of Derna, Abdel Moneim Al-Ghaithi, told Reuters that the deaths in the city could reach 18,000 based on the extent of the damage, and that the city needs specialized teams to recover bodies, expressing his fears of an epidemic due to the large number of bodies under the rubble and in Water.
The European Union spokesman for the Middle East and North Africa region, Luis Miguel Bueno, confirmed that the protection mechanism in the European Union has been activated at the request of the Libyan authorities, indicating that through this mechanism humanitarian aid will be mobilized and offers submitted by European countries to participate in relief efforts will be coordinated.
He described to the Arab World News Agency what happened in the city of Derna as “total destruction,” and said: “We saw terrifying pictures there.”
Regarding the reconstruction process, Bueno pointed out that “Libya will need significant aid to overcome the effects of the disaster, and I believe that delegations from all countries of the world will visit the disaster areas to assess the situation and provide the necessary assistance.”
The two governments in Libya intensified their efforts to rescue what could be saved from those stranded in the wake of Hurricane Daniel, and many countries expressed their willingness to help and moved to send convoys to Libya.
Gordon's Bay, South Africa, on September 17, 2023, after the spring high tide in the Western Cape province
The extraordinary waves reached four meters on average: on the tourist coasts near Cape Town, strong tides combined with violent winds caused a powerful swell over the weekend, the water overtopping the dykes and flooding streets and houses in places .
A 92-year-old woman died in the bad weather which began on Saturday, reported Craig Lambinon, spokesperson for the sea rescuers (NSRI) interviewed by AFP on Sunday.
In a seaside restaurant in Kalk Bay, a fishing village nestled in a bay open to the Atlantic, about thirty kilometers from Cape Town, the water surprised the customers by rushing through the windows.
“I still have goosebumps,” admits Asemahle Daniels, a 26-year-old waitress. Rag in hand, she takes a break after spending a good part of Sunday morning mopping the floor.
On the pier, a handful of curious people observe with excitement the rollers which break on a lighthouse: "You have to see this with your own eyes at least once in your life", exclaims Yuri Ray, 44 years old.
A rising tide, with a coefficient higher than average, can cause "high amplitude waves", forecaster from the South African Meteorological Institute, Lehlohonolo Thobela, told AFP.
In impressive images widely shared on social networks, water surging through the streets of several towns near Cape Town swept away trash cans and parked cars on Saturday.
The national meteorological institute has issued an alert on the country's approximately 3,000 km of coastline until Monday. Emergency services called for caution and several beaches in the region were closed.