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Pakistan Appeals For International Aid As Monsoon Flooding Ravages The Country


A man and a boy use a satellite dish to help children across a flooded area after heavy monsoon rainfalls in Jaffarabad district, Balochistan Province, on August 26.
A man and a boy use a satellite dish to help children across a flooded area after heavy monsoon rainfalls in Jaffarabad district, Balochistan Province, on August 26.

Flash floods across Pakistan have claimed nearly 1,000 lives since June, the government said on August 27. Some 30 million people are reportedly without shelter as monsoon rains show no signs of abating.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif asked the international community for assistance in coping with the flood damage.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Asim Iftikhar said the United Nations had agreed to hold a $160 million flash appeal for donations, to be launched on August 30.

The monsoon season began earlier than usual this year and has been particularly fierce, with heavy rains taxing the ability of rescue workers to evacuate marooned people in flood-hit areas.

A state of emergency was declared on August 26.

Relentless Rain Threatens Key Infrastructure In Pakistan
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Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb said soldiers and rescue workers were engaged in operations in many districts of Sindh Province in the south, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in the northwest, and Punjab Province in the east.

“The government has sanctioned sufficient funds to financially compensate the affected people, and we will not leave our people alone in this tough time,” Aurangzeb said.

Neighboring Afghanistan has also been hard hit by flooding this year, with hundreds killed and thousands displaced.

Based on reporting by AP, Al-Jazeera, and the BBC

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