ISLAMABAD: Floods triggered by monsoon rains have killed 96 people across Pakistan in the past two weeks and affected nearly 90,000 others, officials said yesterday. “Up to 96 people have been killed so far and 99 others have been injured during the monsoon rains and floods so far,” an official in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said. “A population of 89,439 have been affected and 2372 houses were destroyed. Other 1909 houses were partially damaged by the rains and floods,” Rima Zuberi, a spokeswoman of NDMA, said. Officials in the most populous province of Punjab, which has been hit hard this week by particularly heavy rains, said that they were still collecting damage reports from different districts. Pakistan has suffered monsoon floods for the last three years and been criticised for not doing more to mitigate against the dangers posed by seasonal rains washing away homes and farmland. In 2010, the worst floods in the country’s history killed almost 1,800 people and affected 21 million. Streets in all major cities suffered intermittent flooding due to downpours over the last two weeks, damaging roads, buildings and houses.
Pilgrims’ visit cancelled
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has cancelled the visit of pilgrims to the annual gathering of Hazrat Amir Khusro in Delhi. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the visit for participation in the urs from August 22-29 had been cancelled due to security reasons. All pilgrims were urged not to move for Lahore as earlier requested by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony, said a handout. In May, India had barred Pakistanis from visiting the holy shrine in Ajmer Sharif to attend the annual urs of Sufi saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti due to security threats.
Security forces kill six rebels
Islamabad: Security forces killed six militants during raids in the southwest. Sources said raids were conducted after 14 people were killed recently at the hands of militants in the area.
Agencies
