8 MILLION PEOPLE ARE IN NEED OF IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE IN PAKISTAN FLOODS
AUG 27 2010
UN: 1 million more displaced by
Pakistan floods.
Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis fled floodwaters Friday after the surging
River Indus smashed through levees in two places, but many refused to leave
the danger zone while others took shelter in an ancient graveyard for Muslim
saints.
The new flooding came after the Taliban issued a veiled threat against foreign
aid workers helping out in the crisis, a development likely to complicate the
massive relief effort. More than 8 million people are in
need of emergency assistance across the country.
The floods began in the mountainous northwest about a month ago with the onset
of monsoon rains and have moved slowly down the country toward the coast in
the south, inundating vast swaths of prime agricultural land and
damaging or destroying more than 1 million homes.
About 175,000 people are believed to have fled their
homes overnight in the southern city of Thatta after the levee
protecting the city was breached, said Manzoor Sheikh, a senior government
official. Authorities were trying to repair the levee, about 75 miles (125
kilometers) southeast of the major coastal city of Karachi.
"The situation is getting worse," said local
disaster official Hadi Baksh Kalhoro. "The water is flowing into a nearby
canal endangering Thatta city."
A second breach occurred in the Soorjani levee in the same region, said Gulab
Shah, who is helping relief efforts.
"It is beyond control now," he said. "Thousands of people are sitting with
their cattle and belongings and their lives are in danger. They are not
willing to leave."
An Associated Press reporter saw dozens of people taking shelter in the Makli
Hill burial ground, one of the largest such sites in the world. The graveyard,
which is not believed to be in danger, houses the ornate tombs of hundreds of
Muslim saints dating from the 14th century.
Protesters blocked a nearby highway with burning tires. They said they heeded
evacuation orders, but now had no food, water or shelter.
U.N. spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said about 1 million
people have been displaced in Thatta and Qambar-Shadadkot districts
since Wednesday.
The United Nations, the
Pakistani army and a host of other local and
international relief groups have been rushing aid workers, medicine,
food and water to the affected regions, but are unable to reach many people.
The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday hinted they might attack the foreign aid
workers. The militant network has a history of attacking aid groups, including
agencies under the U.N. umbrella.
Militant spokesman Azam Tariq said the U.S. and other countries were not
really focused on providing aid to flood victims but had other motives he did
not specify.
"Behind the scenes they have certain intentions, but on the face they are
talking of relief and help," Tariq told The AP by telephone from an
undisclosed location. "No relief is reaching the affected people, and when the
victims are not receiving help, then this horde of
foreigners is not acceptable to us at all."
The United States which has launched scores of missile
attacks against militant targets in the far northwest over the last 2 1/2
years hopes to improve its highly unpopular image in Pakistan through its aid
efforts. It has deployed 19 civilian and army helicopters
to ferry aid and victims.
U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said the U.N. remained committed to
helping the flood victims.
"We will obviously take these threats seriously as we did before, and take
appropriate precautions, but we will not be deterred from doing what we
believe we need to do, which is help the people of Pakistan," he told a news
conference at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Other aid organizations noted that Pakistan has long been a high-risk
environment for foreigners, and said their security plans took such concerns
into account.
Underlining the fragile security environment, a bomb at a restaurant in the
northwestern town of Mansehra killed one person Friday, local police chief
Mohammed Sajjad said. He said police were investigating who planted the bomb
and why.
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