Flood-relief activities will not impact fight against Taliban: Pak Army
August 14th, 2010 - 6:40 pm ICT by ANI
Islamabad, Aug 14(ANI): The Pakistan Army has said that the security forces will continue its flood-relief efforts in affected areas, but will not divert forces from the battle against the Taliban.
“The involvement of our troops in relief activities will have no impact on our fight against militants,” The Daily Times quoted Major General Athar Abbas, military spokesman, as saying.
“We were mindful of this factor when we carried out deployment for relief activities and I don’t think there will be any need to withdraw troops from the western border,” he added.
The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours just over two weeks ago, have claimed the lives of over 1,600 people and disrupted the lives of 14 million people, eight percent of the population.
The “worst national disaster in Pakistan’s history” is threatening greater damage as relief and rescue work have been hit badly by continuous rains, particularly in the north western region.
However, the Pakistan Army is leading the relief effort by evacuating people, distributing drinking water, food, medical aid and repairing bridges and roads.
The floods first struck the western province of Baluchistan on July 22 before inundating the worst-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and then entering Punjab and Sindh. (ANI)
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- US says its troops will keep helping in flood affected areas till Pak needs such aid - Nov 05, 2010
- Gilani urges international community for more help for Pak flood victims - Sep 13, 2010
- Zardari dismisses concerns of international flood aid misuse - Sep 13, 2010
- Australia triples Pak flood aid to 35 million dollars - Aug 17, 2010
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- Floods to recede only by month's end, says Pak Meteorological Department - Aug 19, 2010
- 400,000 pregnant women among flood affectees in Pakistan - Sep 26, 2010
- Post-flood reconstruction, rehabilitation in Pak to cost 6.7 billion dollars - Nov 15, 2010
- UK provides Rs 1.10 billion aid for flood hit Pak kids - Sep 02, 2010
- PPP, PML-N join hands for flood-relief efforts in Pakistan - Aug 15, 2010
- UN claims aid for flood-hit Pak has come to standstill - Sep 03, 2010
- US will only support a democratically elected Pak government: Holbrooke - Sep 16, 2010
- Australia doubles Pak flood aid to 75 million dollars - Sep 17, 2010
- 'Huge amount of humanitarian work still remains to be done in Pak': UN official - Dec 11, 2010
Tags: abbas, athar, baluchistan, drinking water, flood relief efforts, floods, islamabad, medical aid, military spokesman, monsoon, national disaster, pak army, pakistan army, punjab, relief effort, security forces, taliban, water food, western border, western province