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This is VOA news. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton. The death toll from a series of explosions in a military barracks in Equatorial Guinea has risen to 98, according to the country's Health Ministry on Monday. At least 615 people were injured in the blasts on Sunday, which started with a fire at a military base in the coastal city of Bata. This is according to the Defense Ministry. The Health Ministry put the death toll at 98. That's more than triple an earlier estimate of 31 people killed. The ministry said 299 people who were wounded remain hospitalized. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has attributed the accident to negligence related to the handling of dynamite. He said the explosions damaged almost all the homes and buildings in Bata, a city of just over 250,000 people.
The United States says no decision has been made about its military commitment to Afghanistan after May 1, a deadline for the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops to withdraw from the country in line with a year-old peace pact with the Taliban insurgency. The Pentagon on Monday confirmed its review of the U.S.-Taliban deal is still pending and that until it is complete, a decision on the future of U.S. forces in Afghanistan will have to wait. The comments came in response to reports that Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, warned that Ghani's government may have to deal with a Taliban onslaught on its own if the Afghan leader fails to urgently consider proposals on accelerating U.S.-initiated peace efforts. Proposals reportedly include an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations to push forward the Afghan peace process. From Washington, this is VOA news.
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