Gilani urges international community for more help for Pak flood victims

Jampur (Pakistan), Sep 13(ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has reiterated his appeal for more help from the international community to carry out relief and rehabilitation efforts in the flood affected country.

Gilani was addressing the media after visiting flood-hit areas in Jampur city in Punjab province.

"The floods were a large scale tragedy and assistance from international community can help meet the challenges," The Dawn quoted Gilani, as saying.

He further said that Pakistan was facing the history's worst floods at a time when it was fighting the war against terrorism.

"This is a war for peace and development of the world, and Pakistan was determined to confront terrorism," he added.

The "worst floods in Pakistan's history", triggered by torrential monsoon downpours in July, have claimed the lives of over 1,600 people and disrupted the lives of 20 million people, eight percent of the population.

It first struck the western province of Baluchistan on July 22 before inundating the worst-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and then entering Punjab and Sindh.

According to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Pakistan has so far received 291 million dollars in aid from the international community. (ANI)