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Pakistan Orders Evacuations as Flooding Worsens

VOA News 26 August 2010

Pakistani officials are urging 400,000 people to evacuate three southern towns threatened by new flooding.

Authorities issued the warning Thursday after the Indus River breached an embankment in Sindh province. Officials say the residents of Sujawal, Mir Pur Batoro and Daro are at risk. Authorities in the Thatta district are working to shore up other levees, and the military has been called in to help with evacuations.

While floodwaters have receded in some parts of Pakistan, officials say high tides in the Arabian Sea have heightened the risk of new flooding in Sindh. Monsoon rains triggered the floods that began almost one month ago, killing an estimated 1,600 people and affecting up to 20 million others.

Pakistani and U.S. officials have warned that Islamist militants may try to exploit the disaster. On Thursday, an unnamed U.S. official told news agencies that the Pakistani Taliban may target foreign aid workers engaged in relief efforts.

A Taliban spokesman questioned the motives behind U.S. assistance and told news agencies Thursday the militant group will not tolerate American aid.

United Nations humanitarian spokesman Maurizio Giuliano called any possible attacks on international relief workers inhumane. Charities linked to Pakistan-based militant groups also have been providing assistance to flood victims.

Officials say the new evacuations on Thursday may worsen conditions in some already overcrowded relief camps, where clean water and food are said to be in short supply.

The U.N. says 800,000 people are still cut off by the floods and can only receive aid by air.

In Washington, the International Monetary Fund said it was examining ways to assist Paksitan's economy as the country deals with the disaster. Pakistani officials are in talks with IMF officials this week to try and ease the terms of an $11 billion loan.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuter