PM orders relief for flood-hit Afghans
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday expressed solidarity with the people of Afghanistan facing loss of lives due to severe floods and said Pakistan was sending emergency relief goods for the victims.
“We are with the Afghan people in this difficult hour and will provide them every possible assistance,” the prime minister said in a statement issued by the PM Office.
Heavy rain and flooding has killed 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged crops in Afghanistan, which is already facing a humanitarian crisis, a disaster management official said on Thursday.
Shahbaz expressed sorrow over the loss of precious lives due to floods in 10 provinces of Afghanistan. He called upon the international community to came forward and provide emergency assistance to the Afghan people in the wake of devastating floods.
He urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to intensify its efforts in assisting the affected Afghan people through the Afghan Humanitarian Trust Forum.
Shahbaz said floods could worsen the situation of ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. He pointed out that if timely action was not taken, there was a danger of increasing casualties.
Hesaidtheinternationalcommunity,particularly the United Nations, should launch a programme to help the people of Afghanistan by providing food, medical aid and shelter to the displaced.
The prime minister prayed for the families who lost their loved ones in floods.
The Taliban government, struggling to cope with the disaster that has affected more than a third of its provinces, will approach international relief organisations for help, officials said.
“Due to flooding and storms in 12 provinces, 22 people have died and 40 injured,” said Hassibullah Shekhani, head of communications and information at Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority.
The rain and flooding was particularly severe in the western provinces of Badghis and Faryab and the northern province of Baghlan.
Afghanistan has been suffering from drought in recent years, made worse by climate change, with low crop yields raising fears of serious food shortages. The weather has exacerbated problems of poverty caused by decades of war and then a drop in foreign aid and the freezing of assets abroad ater the Taliban took over, and Us-led forces withdrew, in August.