US vows to continue supporting Pak amid devastating floods

ISLAMABAD - The United States has assured that would it would continue supporting Pakistan amid the massive floods that have inundated nearly one-fifth of the country.

In an interview with Radio Pakistan, President Obama’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said some amount of the 1.5 billion dollar Kerry Lugar aid to Islamabad has been diverted towards emergency flood relief.

Holbrooke said Washington is aware about the devastation caused by the catastrophic floods, and is considering establishing Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZ), similar to ones announced for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), to rebuild the flood-affected areas.

“The only objective of Washington was to help the people of Pakistan in the moment of extreme need,” The Daily Times quoted Holbrooke, as saying.

The US has responded to the crisis with a pledge of over 90 million dollars, however, donations from other countries have been slow due to fears of the money being redirected by corrupt Pakistani officials.

The death toll in the floods has reached over 1,700 people. The deluge has been stamped as one of Pakistan’s worst natural disasters causing heavy damage to the country’s infrastructure. (ANI)