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Explainer: After nine straight nights of strikes, where is the US-Iran conflict headed?

The US carried out a ninth consecutive night of military strikes against Iran early on Monday, targeting command centres, missile facilities, air defence systems, maritime assets and communications infrastructure. The latest developments indicate the conflict is expanding beyond direct military exchanges, with growing implications for regional security, global energy supplies and international shipping. Here is what to know. Why are the US strikes continuing? President Donald Trump said US forces had struck Iran “very hard,” describing the operations as retaliation for the deaths of US service members in the Middle East. The latest casualty on the US side came in northern Iraq, where a service member was killed during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance recovered from a downed Iranian drone. According to American media, at least 17 US soldiers have been killed since Feb 28, when the US and Israel attacked Iran. Strait of Hormuz at the heart of the co...

Heavy rain, floods kill 22 people in Afghanistan

Heavy rain that triggered severe flooding and caused buildings to collapse has killed 22 people and injured 32 in Afghanistan over the last two days, the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Monday, as it warned of continued risk due to bad weather. Most of the deaths were reported from the central and eastern provinces of the war-shattered South Asian nation, including Parwan, Maidan Wardak, Daykundi and Logar, where torrential rain triggered flash floods and caused houses to collapse in rural and mountainous regions, the authority said. Conditions remained "unstable" in parts of the country on Monday, with continued risk of further rain and flooding in some areas, it said. Also Read: Operation Ghazab Lil Haq against Afghan Taliban resumes after Eidul Fitr pause "Twenty-two people were killed, 32 injured and 241 houses damaged in flooding and other weather-related incidents across 13 provinces over the past two days," an NDMA official, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters. Afghanistan is prone to natural disasters, and the United Nations lists it among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. With international aid, which formed the backbone of the government's finances, slashed since the Taliban seized power in 2021, the country has been struggling to cope. A United Nations Development Programme report in November said earthquakes, floods, and drought had destroyed 8,000 homes in Afghanistan in 2025 and strained public services "beyond their limits".

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