United Nations, Aug 13: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and its partners continue to support the government-led response to the devastating earthquake in Colombia, said the office.

Widespread damage to homes and public infrastructure has also been reported, OCHA said in its daily news update.

Humanitarian assessments are ongoing, particularly in the hardest-hit areas, where disruptions to communications, transport and public services continue to hinder relief efforts. Emergency shelter, food assistance, access to safe drinking water and health care for affected communities are among the top priorities, the office said.

The United Nations and its partners are also mobilising resources. The World Food Programme is sending food, while the World Health Organization is dispatching medical supplies from its warehouses in the country, OCHA said.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Wednesday that an allocation from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund is in the works.

The United Nations will launch an appeal for quake relief in Colombia once information is available about the extent of damage, said Haq, noting that the needs are expected to be very severe, Xinhua news agency reported.

The death toll from Monday’s earthquake in Colombia has risen to 265, with 3,494 people injured and 496 still missing, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said Wednesday.

The president said more than 53,000 people had been affected by the disaster.

He said he would declare a state of economic emergency to speed up assistance to those affected, saying the government’s efforts remain focused on searching for the missing.

Earlier on Aug 11, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar had extended condolences to Omar Bula Escobar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, on the devastating earthquake in the South American nation.

“Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives and the destruction caused by the earthquake in Colombia. Extend heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones. Also pray for the swift recovery to those injured. India stands ready to extend all possible assistance,” EAM Jaishankar wrote on X.

Kolkata, Aug 12: Wahab Alam, the Pakistani national arrested in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, was sent by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to collect information about the Indian Army, Navy and Railways in the eastern sector of the country.

Alam was arrested in the Habra area of the district.

Insiders from the state police said that during the marathon interrogation by the sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police, he had admitted that he entered India through the India-Nepal border in 2012 and has since been staying in different pockets of the state, shifting bases from time to time.

After his arrest, the STF sleuths also seized forged Indian identity documents from his possession, like an Aadhaar card, PAN card and EPIC card. It is learnt that he managed these forged identity documents through another person, Muhammad Izaz, who was also arrested by the STF in the Topsia area in East Kolkata following Alam’s interrogation.

In fact, state police insiders said that before shifting to Habra, from where he had been arrested, Alam used to stay at Izaz’s residence in Topsia. However, as per information collected by the STF sleuths, he left the Topsia area immediately after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise started in West Bengal earlier this year before the recently concluded Assembly polls.

STF sleuths found that Alam was probably planning to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, and hence decided to shift to Habra, which is fairly close to the India-Bangladesh border. The STF sleuths are currently interrogating Alam and Izaz to know about their other associates in the state.

Interrogation is also ongoing to find out the kind of information that Alam has already passed on to his handlers in Pakistan.

Reacting to media persons on the arrest of the Pakistani national, the state Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister, Agnimitra Paul, said that such elements could make their roots deeper in West Bengal because of the “nurturing by the previous Trinamool Congress regime”.

“My appeal to people is to be alert. If any suspicious persons or any suspicious activity is detected in your locality, kindly contact the local police station immediately,” she said.

Seoul, Aug 12: North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, marking the second such launch in less than a week in an apparent protest against an upcoming combined military exercise between the South and the United States.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile launched from the Wonsan area on the east coast at around 6 a.m.

The missile flew more than 700 kilometres, with a detailed analysis of its specifications under way by South Korean and US authorities, according to the JCS.

While the military has yet to specify the type or range of the missile, the range it provided suggests the launch likely involved a short-range missile, which typically flies 300 to 1,000 km, reports Yonhap news agency.

North Korea has the KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, known as the North Korean version of Russia’s Iskander, which has a maximum range of 700- 800 km.

The latest launch came six days after the North fired what the South’s military has identified as a short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Thursday.

The recent missile launches came as South Korea and the US are set to begin their key annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise next week.

Pyongyang has strongly denounced the allies’ drills as war rehearsals and conducted its own weapons tests around the training period in a show of protest.

Unlike how the North has usually revealed its missile launches through state media the following day or so, it has not published any reports on last week’s launch.

This has raised the possibility that the launch may not have succeeded or involved the test-firing of a new type of missile, or that it could have been a longer-range missile fired at a reduced range.

“It could be a repeat of last week’s launch following its suspected failure and is believed to be a test-firing aimed at improving its missile capabilities,” said Yang Moo-jin, a senior professor at the University of North Korean Studies.

“Given the intensifying war in Ukraine, it could also be a test to upgrade the Hwasong-11 missiles, which are designed to carry tactical nuclear warheads,” Yang said.

South Korean and US intelligence authorities tracked the launch from its early stage and shared information with Japan as well, maintaining a full readiness posture through cooperation between the two countries, the JCS said.

“Under the staunch South Korea-US combined defence posture, our military is closely monitoring various North Korean activities and maintaining the capability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation,” it said.

South Korea’s National Security Office (NSO) expressed concerns over continued missile launches since last week, urging Pyongyang to stop such provocations that are in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

The NSO convened an emergency meeting with defence and military officials shortly after Wednesday’s launch to assess the launch and its impact on security, and directed necessary measures, officials said.

The latest missile launch was also observed from an eastern coastal area in South Korea’s Goseong county in Gangwon Province, located about 130 km in a direct distance from Wonsan.

The US Pacific Command said in a media statement that it assesses the North’s recent missile launch as not posing an immediate threat to its territory and allies.

The latest launch marked the 11th such launch by North Korea this year to date.