United News of Bangladesh

Taiwan’s military on Wednesday launched rockets in the direction of China using US-supplied mobile launchers in a drill designed to simulate how the island would respond to a potential Chinese attack. The exercise featured the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which was fired for the first time into waters of the Taiwan Strait, the narrow waterway separating Taiwan from mainland China. The system had been tested previously, but not in this specific live-fire setting. A military official said the drills reflect Taiwan’s determination to strengthen its defence capabilities amid rising tensions. “Due to the current enemy threat, we will continue HIMARS training with unwavering determination to protect Taiwan as the nation’s strongest force,” said army Sergeant Wang Ming-hui. The military said it used reduced-range training rockets that fell into the sea shortly after launch. China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, regularly sends military aircraft and naval vessels near the island and has stepped up large-scale drills in recent years. The United States does not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but opposes any attempt to change its status by force and remains its key arms supplier. HIMARS, a truck-mounted mobile rocket system, is designed for rapid deployment, allowing forces to fire from hidden positions and quickly relocate, a tactic known as “shoot-and-scoot.” The system was the centrepiece of the second day of Taiwan’s west coast exercises, which also included 155mm howitzers. The drills simulated a response to a possible Chinese invasion and focused on speed, precision and mobility. During the exercise, the HIMARS units moved into position after receiving firing orders and launched rockets within minutes, demonstrating rapid strike capability. In December, the United States announced plans to sell 82 additional HIMARS units to Taiwan as part of a major arms deal. However, the package has reportedly been put on hold following recent diplomatic talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

At least 46 people were killed and another 41 injured after a fire broke out early Thursday in a run-down mixed commercial and residential building in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung, officials said. Neighborhood residents said the 13-story building was home to many poor, elderly and disabled people and it wasn't clear how many of the 120 units were occupied. Witnesses said they heard something that sounded like an explosion at about 3 a.m. when the blaze erupted in the building's lower floors, which housed a closed movie theater, abandoned restaurants and karaoke clubs. Tsai Hsiu-Chin, 70, had lived in the building for 15 years. At 3 a.m., she heard someone screaming "fire." She said she took the elevator down, escaping with just the clothing on her back. "I didn't bring anything. I just cared about saving my life," she said, sitting opposite the charred building on Thursday night, trying to process her experience over a beer with a friend. Across the street, Lin Chie-ying said she was awoken in her home by the sound of ambulances and fire trucks. "I thought our home would burn up too," she said. Also read: Ensure fire safety in high-rise buildings: PM It took firefighters until after 7 a.m. to extinguish the blaze. Many of the upper floors appeared not to have been damaged directly. However, the smoke was thick enough to have killed and injured the several dozens living above the fire. Throughout Thursday, first responders pored through the wreckage and recovered dozens of bodies. Another 14 of 55 taken initially to the hospital were confirmed dead on arrival or shortly after. The building's age and piles of debris blocking access to many areas complicated search and rescue efforts, officials said, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency. Later in the day, the smell of smoke still lingered and the sound of shattering glass rang throughout the area. Construction workers were raised on a crane to break out the remaining glass from window frames with a crowbar, and waited to put up scaffolding to prevent the building from being a further hazard. Scattered crowds of people gathered across the street. Curious onlookers drove by on their scooters and paused to look at the damage. The decades-old apartment building is one of many in the Yancheng district, an older part of Kaohsiung, a city of some 2.8 million people in southwestern Taiwan. "For the families and Yancheng, I feel incomparable pain and I blame myself deeply," Mayor Chen Chi Mai said at a news conference, bowing in apology. "Here I want to express my deepest sorrow to all the wounded and those who died, as well as their families and all the residents." Read:Fuel tanker explodes in Lebanon, killing 20, wounding dozens It appears the fire broke out on the ground floor but it was not immediately clear exactly where and the cause was still under investigation. The United Daily News said that investigators were focusing on a first-floor tea shop where the fire had started, and police were looking into a resident who reportedly fought with his girlfriend earlier on Wednesday. They had not ruled out arson, the newspaper said. Fire extinguishers had been installed last month, but only three per floor because the residents could not afford to pay more, the United Daily News, a major newspaper, reported. A 1995 fire at a nightclub in Taichung, Taiwan's third-largest city, killed 64 people in the country's deadliest such disaster in recent times.