COLOMBO: Sri Lanka stopped passenger trains and closed roads in some parts of the country where landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains have caused more than 30 deaths, officials said Thursday.
The government’s disaster management center said 18 of the reported deaths occurred in the tea-growing, mountainous regions of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya in the country’s central province about 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of the capital Colombo.
Another 14 people were missing Thursday due to landslides in the same areas, the center said.
The death toll has risen to 31 since last week, when Sri Lanka began grappling with severe weather. Heavy downpours over the weekend wreaked havoc by flooding homes, fields and roads.
Many reservoirs and rivers are overflowing, which is contributing to roads being blocked. Some key roads connecting the provinces have been closed, officials said.
Authorities stopped trains in some areas in the mountainous region after rocks, muds and trees fell onto tracks and local television showed workers busy removing the debris. In some areas, floods have inundated the tracks.
Local television showed navy vehicles transporting residents and a car being swept away by floodwaters near the eastern town of Ampara about 412 kilometers (256 miles) east of Colombo.
The severe weather has impacted about 4,000 families, the center said.
More than 30 dead and 14 missing as heavy rains trigger landslides and floods in Sri Lanka
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More than 30 dead and 14 missing as heavy rains trigger landslides and floods in Sri Lanka
- The death toll has risen to 31 since last week, when Sri Lanka began grappling with severe weather
Swedish intelligence warns of increased Middle East war fallout
- “The threat has increased primarily against American, Jewish, Israeli interests or opposition figures” Hallstrom told AFP
- Hallstrom also said the war in the Middle East could have “considerable impact” on European security
STOCKHOLM: A top Swedish intelligence official on Thursday warned of increased threats against American and Israeli interests, as well as Iranian dissidents, in Sweden because of the war in the Middle East.
The Scandinavian country’s security, which had already deteriorated after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has worsened since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday unleashed a new war, according to Fredrik Hallstrom, head of operations for the Swedish Security Service (Sapo).
“The threat has increased primarily against American, Jewish, Israeli interests or opposition figures, rather than toward Sweden as a nation or country,” Hallstrom told AFP.
“I’m talking about opposition figures with such influence that they could actually either be perceived as a serious threat to the Iranian regime, or in fact be one,” he explained.
Hallstrom also said the war in the Middle East could have “considerable impact” on European security.
Police have taken measures to increase security around potential targets, such as embassies, he said.
Sapo has previously pointed to Iran, China and Russia as the main threats to the country.
It has accused Iran in particular of recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs to commit “acts of violence” against Israeli and other interests in Sweden — a claim Iran denied.
Other risks highlighted by Sapo include increased intelligence activities in Sweden, surveillance and actions targeting Iranian dissidents in exile, as well as the acquisition of equipment, research and know-how that could contribute to the development of nuclear weapons.
“We know that Iran uses cyberattacks and hacks phones and computers in order to monitor others,” Hallstrom said.
He added that this monitoring could be potentially used to get individuals “in Sweden to provide information about other people, by exerting pressure.”
