Food riots in Pak, as desperate homeless and hungry survivors attack aid convoys

MUZAFFARGARH - Food riots have erupted in several flood-affected areas in Pakistan’s Punjab province, where starving people are attacking vehicles carrying relief goods.

The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) officials said that their convoy had been attacked and vehicles looted in Muzaffargarh district.

Similar attacks were reported on vehicles of the Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) and IOM.

PPAF coordinator Mohammad Kamran said that their organisation has suspended the work, as the situation has turned dangerous because of widespread hunger and thirst, The Dawn reports.

Meanwhile, a local resident, Malik Asif, said that people had been without food and water for four days, and meals sent by the district government were not enough.

He claimed that he had stood in a queue on Thursday for two hours, but could not get anything.
The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours just over two weeks ago, have claimed the lives of over 1,600 people and disrupted the lives of 14 million people, eight percent of the population.

The entire country has been inundated, but the misery does not seem to end as fresh downpours threaten to bring more destruction.

The Pakistan government, overwhelmed by the disaster, has been accused of being too slow to respond to the crisis with victims relying on the military and international aid agencies for help. (ANI)