Sunday

March 13, 2016

Armed conflicts and attacks

March 2016 Ankara bombing

An explosion occurs in central Ankara, Turkey, with at least 34 people killed and 125 wounded. (The Independent) (The Telegraph)

Turkey–PKK conflict (2015–present)

Turkey declares a curfew in the town of Yüksekova on the border with Iran as Turkish forces prepare an offensive against the PKK. (AP)

2016 Grand-Bassam shootings

Gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam. At least 15 people are reportedly killed. Witnesses claim the attackers shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is [the] greatest") during the gunfire. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claim responsibility for the attack. (CNN) (The Telegraph) (Daily Nation)

Syrian Civil War

Second Battle of Maarat al-Nu'man

The al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, assaults the Free Syrian Army's 13th Division in Maarrat al-Nu'man, killing seven FSA fighters with 40 captured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Nusra seized anti-tank missiles, armored vehicles, a tank, and other arms from the U.S.-backed division. (AP via ABC News)

Disasters and accidents

Five people are dead after a building collapses in the Indian city of Meerut caused by heavy rain. (India Today)

Heavy rain in Pakistan has led to fifteen deaths in two days including at least eight deaths in a coal mine collapse in the Orakzai Tribal Area. (AP via Fox News)

Six people have been killed in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma, with two Mississippi fishermen missing, in this week's flooding in the America's Deep South. More than 24 inches of rain has fallen in some of the hardest-hit areas with more rain today that is expected to lead to additional flooding later this week. (Fox News) (UPI)

A Pacific Northwest windstorm strikes Western Washington, killing at least one person, leaving 300,000 residents without power, and closing several bridges. (KING-TV)

A six-seat Cessna 206 crashes into a market in the Beni Department of northeastern Bolivia, killing all four aboard the plane and injuring three others. (Another report states seven were killed with 15 injured). The plane was flying from Santa Ana del Yacuma to departmental capital Trinidad. (AP via ABC News) (Reuters via Hindustan Times)