JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s rumbling Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted twice on Monday, sending a column of volcanic materials up to 18 kilometers (11 miles) into the sky, dumping ash on villages and causing flight cancellations.
No casualties were immediately reported. The volcano on Flores island has been at the highest alert level since an eruption on June 18, and an exclusion zone had been doubled to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius as eruptions became more frequent.
Indonesia’s Geology Agency recorded an avalanche of searing gas clouds mixed with rocks and lava traveling up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) down the slopes of the 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) mountain. Observations from drones showed lava filling the crater, indicating deep movement of magma that set off earthquakes.
The initial column of hot clouds that rose just after 11:00 a.m. local time (0305 GMT) was the volcano's highest since the major eruption in November 2024 that killed nine people and injured dozens, said Muhammad Wafid, the Geology Agency chief. It also erupted in March.
“An eruption of that size certainly carries a higher potential for danger, including its impact on aviation,” Wafid told The Associated Press. “We shall reevaluate to enlarge its danger zone that must be cleared of villagers and tourist activities.”
The volcano erupted again just after 7:30 p.m. (1100 GMT), spewing lava and sending clouds of ash up to 13 kilometers (8 miles) into the air, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.
By Monday afternoon, at least 24 flights between Bali and Australia, Singapore and South Korea were cancelled and many others delayed, while flights on four domestic routes were cancelled, said Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, spokesperson for Bali's Ngurah Rai international airport.
He said the airport was running normally despite the cancellations, as monitoring showed the volcanic ash had not affected Bali's airspace.
Falling ash after the initial eruption blanketed several villages with debris and blocked sunlight for almost half an hour, Hadi Wijaya, head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, said in a statement.
He said volcanic materials, including thumb-size fragments of gravel and ash, were thrown up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater. He warned residents to be vigilant about heavy rainfall that could trigger lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano.
Photos and videos circulated on social media showed the ash cloud expanding into a mushroom shape as tons of volcanic debris covered houses up to their rooftops in nearby villages. Some residents ran in panic under the rain of volcanic material or fled with motorbikes and cars.
Monday’s eruptions were the result of the accumulation of energy due to a blockage of magma in the crater, which reduced detectable seismic activity while building up pressure, Wijaya said.
The initial eruption was one of Indonesia’s largest since 2010 when Mount Merapi, the country’s most volatile volcano, erupted on the densely populated island of Java. That killed 353 people and forced over 350,000 people to evacuate.
Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 280 million people with frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Associated Press journalists Edna Tarigan in Jakarta and Firdia Lisnawati in Bali contributed to this report.
ADDS DETAILS OF THE DIGITAL IMPRINTS AT LOWER RIGHT - In photo released by the Geological Agency (Badan Geologi) of the Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki spews volcanic materials during an eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, Monday, July 7, 2025. The watermark at the lower right corner reads: CCTV Mount Lewotobi, Geological Agency, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, with the date and time. (Badan Geologi via AP)
In photo released by Geological Agency (Badan Geologi) of the Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews volcanic materials during an eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, Monday, July 7, 2025. (Badan Geologi via AP)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
