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NATO Troops Formally End Earthquake Relief Mission in Pakistan

01 February 2006

Alliance rushed helicopters, supplies and medical teams to disaster zone

Washington -- NATO formally has ended its 90-day humanitarian mission in Pakistan, which provided emergency personnel and equipment after the South Asia earthquake of October 2005, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced February 1.

“Today, the NATO mission to help the people of Pakistan, after last October’s terrible earthquake, has come to an end,” de Hoop Scheffer said. “Our personnel have left the affected zone around Bagh, on schedule.”

The magnitiude-7.6 earthquake stuck October 8, 2005, and killed more than 70,000 people. At the request of the Pakistan government, NATO opened an air bridge to Pakistan to deliver emergency supplies from Germany and Turkey. The military alliance also deployed about 1,000 personnel, including medical teams, helicopter crews and engineers. (See related article.)

Since the NATO humanitarian mission began, “over 160 flights from Europe have brought almost 3,500 tons of relief supplies, including tents, blankets and stoves, to Pakistan,” de Hoop Scheffer said. “NATO helicopters lifted over 1,700 tons of relief in-country, and moved over 7,600 people. NATO medical units treated more than 8,000 patients. NATO engineers have cleared roads, and built schools and shelters.”

The secretary-general thanked the government and people of Pakistan “for the warm hospitality they showed NATO personnel during these very trying days.”

De Hoop Scheffer also congratulated NATO personnel who, he said,  “performed this unexpected and unprecedented humanitarian mission with professionalism and compassion.”

De Hoop’s full statement is available on the NATO Web site.

For more information, see U.S. Response to the Earthquake in South Asia.

See also Partnership for a Better Life, which discusses how the United States helps people around the world and includes a section on humanitarian relief.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)