AP photos show an injured elephant frequenting an Indian village as its habitat shrinks

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — For months an injured male elephant has been frequenting a village on the outskirts of India's northeastern Assam state in search of food, bringing it into contact with people living in the area.

The elephant often breaks into shops and helps itself to food on the shelves, prompting locals to erect steel fences and concertina wires in front of their houses and roadside kiosks. Villagers have been providing the animal food and water, but its frequent visits — at least twice a day — halt traffic sometimes, forcing locals to shoo the elephant away.

According to wildlife officials, the elephant has been unable to go back to the nearby Amchang Reserve forest after injuring its leg few months ago. They say it has also been facing resistance from other elephants whenever it attempts to join a herd.

Elephants are increasingly coming into contact with people in India, as the human population of 1.4 billion soars and cities and towns grow at the expense of jungles and other elephant habitats. In Assam, which has more than 5,000 wild Asian elephants, there have been many incidents in recent years where wild elephants have entered villages, destroyed crops and even killed people.

Wildlife activists say human encroachment has forced elephants out of their natural habitats, triggering conflicts with locals.

Conservationists have urged the government to prevent encroachments and create corridors that the elephants can use to move across forests in search of food.

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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Rangers guide a wild elephant back into the forest from a nearby village along Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A forest officer chases an injured male tusker away from residential areas near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A resident keeps guard, watching for wild elephants, outside his home near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A wild elephant walks past an army camp near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Forest officials chase an injured male tusker away from residential areas near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

An injured male tusker, searching for food, stands on a road near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A wild elephant walks through the gate of an army camp along Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

An injured male tusker walks away from a fire set off by residents to ward it away, near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Residents complain to forest officers about the presence of an injured male tusker in their neighborhood, near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Children walk near barbwire installed on the perimeter of a shop to deter wild elephants near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

An injured male tusker swings his trunk around a motorbike on a road near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

People gather to watch a wild elephant near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

An injured male tusker walks past barbed wire installed to protect residential areas from wild elephants in Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Residents look at an injured wild elephant walking outside their house in a village near Amchang wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Guwahati, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

LONDON (AP) — British police said Sunday they are investigating whether a string of arson attacks. on Jewish sites in London are the work of Iranian proxies.

The Metropolitan Police force says counterterror officers are probing the attacks on synagogues and other sites linked to the Jewish community, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media company.

No one has been injured in the blazes, the latest of which caused minor damage to a north London synagogue on Saturday night.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said the attacks had been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

“We are aware of public reporting that suggests this group may have links to Iran. As you would expect, we will continue to explore that question as our investigation evolves," she said.

“I’ve spoken previously about the Iranian regime’s use of criminal proxies, and we’re considering whether this tactic is being used here in London," she added.

Israel’s government has described Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The police force has extra uniformed and plainclothes officers to northwest London after attacks in the past month on synagogues, Jewish charity ambulances and a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government.

A blaze that damaged Kenton United Synagogue on Saturday night follows a series of fires targeting Jewish-linked premises and an Iranian opposition outlet that are being investigated by counterterror police. In the most serious incident, four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were torched on March 23 in the Golders Green neighborhood,

No one has been injured in any of the incidents, which all happened within a few miles of each other. Several people, ranging in age from teens to people in their 40s, have been arrested and charged.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on X that “a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum.

“Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society,” he added.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attacks, and pledged that "those responsible will be found and brought to justice.”

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia also posted a video claiming Israel’s London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances. Police said the embassy was not attacked, but the force shut the nearby Kensington Gardens park on Friday as officers examined discarded items including two jars containing powder. Police said nothing harmful was found.

The U.K. has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year to October.

Some security experts say Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia is likely a flag of convenience rather than a coherent group, and its claims should be treated with caution.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes said any “thugs for hire” who carried out such attacks would face justice.

“Let’s be really clear — it’s a mug’s game,” he said. “That’s what people who are now serving long prison sentences have found out, and the same fate awaits those responsible for these recent crimes.”

FILE - A sign stands in front of the New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, in London, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Police officers patrol at a cordon near Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, a suburb of London, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Jamie Lashmar/PA via AP)