Islamabad: The United Nations launched an appeal on Friday for $543 million for more than 2 million people displaced by fighting in northwest Pakistan who are enduring "incredible suffering".
The military launched an offensive this month in the picturesque Swat Valley and neighbouring districts to stop the spread of a Taliban insurgency that had raised fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's future.
The United Nations has warned of a long-term humanitarian crisis and called for massive aid for nearly 1.7 million people displaced by the offensive and about 555,000 people forced from their homes by earlier fighting in the region.
"The scale of this displacement is extraordinary in terms of size and speed and has caused incredible suffering," said Martin Mogwanja, the acting UN humanitarian coordinator, in launching the "flash appeal". "We require a total $543 million assistance until the end of December this year," Mogwanja told diplomats and reporters at the launch.
The UN appeal came a day after Pakistan's allies promised $224 million in aid for the displaced, including $110 million from the United States, after the government warned that the militants could exploit a failure to help.
The United States, which sees Pakistan as vital to its plan to defeat al Qaeda and bring stability in Afghanistan, has applauded Pakistani resolve to fight what some US leaders have called an "existential threat" to the country.
But Pakistan could face even greater turmoil in the months ahead. US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said on Thursday a US military offensive in southern Afghanistan could push Taliban fighters into Pakistan.
The United States is pouring thousands of troops into Afghanistan this year to try to reverse gains by a resurgent Taliban, particularly in its southern heartland.
DAUNTING CHALLENGE About 15,000 members of the security forces are fighting between 4,000 and 5,000 militants in Swat, the military says.
Pakistan says more than 1,000 militants and more than 50 soldiers have been killed in the fighting. There has been no independent confirmation of the estimate of militant casualties.
The government has the backing of most politicians and many members of the public for the offensive but that support could quickly disappear if many civilians are killed or if the displaced languish in misery.
After clearing many Taliban strongholds and supply caches in Swat's mountains, soldiers have begun battling militants in towns where civilians are still hiding.
PAGE_BREAK
The head of the government relief operation, Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed, said on Thursday up to 200,000 civilians were stranded in the valley and authorities might have to drop food to them from the air. But Ahmed said "not many" civilians were left in the region's main town of Mingora, with most people still in the valley in its northern reaches, which had been "relatively calm".
The $543 million which the United Nations is hoping for will be spent on 165 projects run by UN agencies and aid groups providing emergency shelter, food, education and health services.
"This is a daunting challenge and a very, very difficult situation for all of us," Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar, who is helping to drum up foreign support, told the gathering at the launch of the appeal.
Comments
0 comment