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UN Readies Emergency Aid Appeal for Pakistan

11 August 2010 18:22 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The United Nations is set to launch a new emergency aid appeal for Pakistan as the country continues to deal with devastating floods, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

The announcement expected Wednesday will call for hundreds of millions of dollars to provide immediate assistance to millions affected by the disaster.

So far, the floods have killed more than 1,600 people and affected nearly 14 million people in Pakistan’s provinces of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh.

Taliban rejects aid

The Pakistani Taliban has condemned the international aid and called on Pakistan to reject the assistance. The militants said the aid is meant to subjugate Pakistan.

The United States said Tuesday that it will provide an additional $20 million in aid, bringing its total commitment to $55 million.

More help needed

Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States says he is grateful for Washington’s response to the floods, but he stressed that much more will be needed for many months to come.

Ambassador Husain Haqqani said Tuesday the Pakistani government is concerned about people who are still stranded in the water, dead animals that are going to cause disease, and hundreds of thousands of displaced residents.

Aid so far

The Pentagon says U.S. forces have rescued 2,328 people and delivered 95 tons of aid to flood victims so far.

U.N. spokeswoman Ishrat Rizvi told VOA that international donors have transferred $27 million to the world body and pledged another $60 million for aid efforts.