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A general view of an oil installation in Saudi Arabia's northeastern Gulf port of Jubail. (AFP PHOTO/Bilal QABALAN) - 

A ballistic missile attack aimed at Saudi Arabia's oil-rich eastern region was intercepted on Saturday (Sep 4), the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen said in a statement carried by Saudi state media.

The missile was intercepted over the city of Dammam, according to a source familiar with the matter who declined to be named and social media reports.

The shrapnel of the missile scattered over the Dammam Suburb neigbourhood, injuring two Saudi children, while 14 residential houses suffered light damages, Saudi state news agency SPA said, citing a statement by the defence ministry.

The coalition blamed the attack on the Iran-aligned Houthi forces. There was no immediate claim of responsibility in Houthi-run media.

The coalition also said it intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles heading towards Jazan and Najran, both in the southern part of the country.

The coalition earlier also reported the interception of three explosive-laden drones headed towards the Kingdom.

Eastern Saudi is home to significant oil infrastructure which has previously been targeted and hit by aerial attacks. An attack in September 2019 on two Aramco plants in the east temporarily knocked out half the country's oil production.

Yemen's Houthis, who regularly launch drones and missiles into the kingdom, have claimed responsibility for several attacks on Saudi oil installations in the past.

A source familiar with the matter said there was no impact on facilities belonging to state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco and that the attack happened outside of Aramco facilities.

"The Ministry of Defense will take the necessary and deterrent measures to protect its lands and capabilities, and stop such hostile and cross-border attacks to protect civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian law," the ministry said in a statement according to SPA.

The Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, backing forces of the ousted government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fighting the Houthis//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A lone passenger sits at a tram stop on a mostly-empty city centre street on the first day of a lockdown as the state of Victoria looks to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, July 16, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders - 

Australia's Victoria, home to more than a quarter of the country's 25 million population, reported 183 new locally acquired coronavirus cases on Sunday (Sep 5) as the outbreak of the highly transmissible Delta variant grows.

Of the infections, 101 were linked to existing outbreaks, the health department said on its Twitter account. There are 1,417 active cases now in the state.

More than 15 million people in Victoria, neighbouring New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have been in a weeks-long lockdown to quell Australia's worst wave of the coronavirus pandemic so far.

The lockdowns, which keep internal borders between states and territories closed, are part of a federally advised strategy to manage the outbreaks until at least 70 per cent of those 16 and older get fully vaccinated.

The plan also envisages that Australia might start gradually reopening its international borders, closed since March 2020, when 80 per cent of its people receive the shots.

Due to the scarce supply of the Pfizer vaccine and public unease about AstraZeneca, only about 37 per cent have been vaccinated so far. The pace has picked up considerably with the federal government racing to secure more Pfizer shots.

Based on current rates, the 70 per cent target may be achieved in late October or early November.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison reiterated on Sunday that the current Delta outbreak cannot be fully eliminated - a successful strategy used by states and territories in earlier waves - but that achieving the vaccination targets can allow for travel.

"And everyone can make plans for a family Christmas, with all our loved ones at the dinner table, cracking bon-bons and bad jokes together," Morrison told the Sunday Herald Sun.

"Nobody wants COVID to be the virus that stole Christmas, and we have a plan and the vaccinations available to ensure that's not the case."//CNA

FILE PHOTO: French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire attends a news conference after a meeting with business federations at the Bercy Finance Ministry in Paris, France, August 30, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier - 

The challenges to security emerging from the upheaval in Afghanistan should be a wake-up call for the European Union, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Saturday (Sep 4), urging the EU to be more ambitious on defence and on global leadership.

"Europe has to become No 3 super-power besides China and the United States. Let's open our eyes, we are facing threats and we cannot rely anymore on the protection of the United States," Le Maire told reporters during an annual business conference in Cernobbio on Lake Como.

"Afghanistan is a wake-up call," he said, adding Europe also faced security threats in the Middle East and in Africa.

The French minister said Paris had decided to invest €1.7 billion (US$2.02 billion) more in defence this year and would like to see other European countries to do the same.

The minister also called other EU member states to invest and to deepen their single market to achieve technological independence from big overseas companies and third countries.

"EU member states have to build the single market for finance and also they need to reach a political agreement on the banking union, in order to have more funds for new technologies," Le Maire said.

He added that France will work toward these goals when it takes the rotating presidency of the EU Council, in the first half of 2022.

"You cannot be sovereign on the political point of view if you depend from foreigners for semiconductors, electric batteries, satellites ..." he said, echoing similar comments from Italy's Innovation Minister Vittorio Colao, who was also in Cernobbio.

Europe should invest to win the leadership in sectors including hydrogen, the digital cloud, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, space exploration, satellites and bio-technologies, Le Maire said//CNA

Members of National Resistance Front observe by a house near Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan in this still image obtained handout. NATIONAL RESISTANCE FRONT OF AFGHANISTAN HANDOUT/Handout via REUTERS - 

Taliban and opposition forces battled on Saturday (Sep 4) to control the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul, the last Afghan province holding out against the militant group, as the top US general warned of a "civil war" if the Islamists failed to consolidate power.

Both sides claimed to have the upper hand in Panjshir but neither could produce conclusive evidence to prove it. The Taliban, which swept through the country ahead of the final withdrawal of US-led forces this week, were unable to control the valley when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said the districts of Khinj and Unabah had been taken, giving Taliban forces control of four of the province's seven districts.

"The Mujahideen (Taliban fighters) are advancing toward the centre (of the province)," he said on Twitter.

But the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, grouping forces loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud, said it surrounded "thousands of terrorists" in Khawak pass and the Taliban had abandoned vehicles and equipment in the Dashte Rewak area.

Front spokesman Fahim Dashti added "heavy clashes" were going on.

In a Facebook post, Massoud insisted Panjshir "continues to stand strongly". Praising "our honourable sisters", he said demonstrations by women in the western city of Herat calling for their rights showed Afghans had not given up demands for justice and "they fear no threats".

US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscored the tenuous situation.

"My military estimate is, is that the conditions are likely to develop of a civil war. I don't know if the Taliban is going to be able to consolidate power and establish governance," Milley said.

Speaking to Fox News from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Milley said if they cannot that will "in turn lead to a reconstitution of Al Qaeda or a growth of ISIS or other myriad of terrorist groups" over the next three years.

Emergency, an Italian medical aid organisation, said Taliban forces had pushed further into the Panjshir Valley on Friday night, reaching the village of Anabah where the group has medical facilities.

"We have received a small number of wounded people at the Anabah Surgical Centre," Emergency said in a statement, adding that many people fled in recent days.

It was not immediately possible to get further independent confirmation of events in Panjshir, which is walled off by mountains except for a narrow entrance.

Celebratory gunfire resounded in Kabul on Friday as reports spread of the Taliban's takeover of Panjshir. News agencies said at least 17 people were killed and 41 hurt.

Pakistan's spy chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed flew into Kabul on Saturday. It was not clear what his agenda was, but a senior official in Pakistan said earlier in the week that Hameed, who heads the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, could help the Taliban reorganise the Afghan military.

Washington has accused Pakistan and the ISI of backing the Taliban in the group's two-decade fight against the US-backed government in Kabul, although Islamabad has denied the charges.

In Kabul, Taliban fighters broke up a demonstration by about a dozen women urging the group to respect women's rights to education and jobs, according to private broadcaster Tolo news.

A Taliban source said the announcement of a new government would be pushed back to next week.

Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, reported by some Taliban sources to be in line to lead the new government, said in remarks on Qatar's Al Jazeera channel that the new administration will include all factions of Afghans.

"We are doing our utmost efforts to improve their living conditions. The government will provide security, because it is necessary for economic development," he said.

Some signs of normality returned to Kabul.

Qatar's ambassador to Afghanistan said a technical team was able to reopen Kabul airport to receive aid, according to Al Jazeera, which also cited its correspondent as saying domestic flights had restarted.

The airport has been closed since the United States on Aug 30 completed US-led evacuations of more than 120,000 US citizens, other foreigners and Afghans deemed at risk from the Taliban, and withdrew the last of its troops.

The Taliban's main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, also said one of the main foreign exchange dealers in Kabul had reopened.

Afghanistan's economy has been thrown into disarray by the Taliban's takeover. Many banks are closed and cash is scarce.

The United Nations said it will convene an international aid conference on Sep 13 to help avert what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called a looming humanitarian catastrophe.

Western powers say they are prepared to engage with the Taliban and send humanitarian aid, but that formal recognition of the government and broader economic assistance will depend on action - not just promises - to safeguard human rights//CNA