US announces $10m in new aid for flood-devastated Pakistan

The US has announced an additional $10m in aid for flood-ravaged Pakistan on top of more than $56m in flood relief and humanitarian assistance this year.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday: “We’ve marshaled over $56m in immediate humanitarian assistance. We’ve been able to send about 17 planes full of supplies like food and materials to build shelters, tents, tarps.

“And today I’m pleased to announce another $10m in food security assistance,” he was quoted as saying in an event at the State Department marking the 75th anniversary of relations between the US and Pakistan.

“We will continue to stand by Pakistan, to stand by its people, today and in the days to come,” he added.

Heavy rain that scientists say have been worsened by climate change have killed more than 1,000 people in Pakistan.

Floods have also caused damage to the tune of tens of billions of dollars and destroyed much of the country’s staple food and commercial crops.

Mr Blinken’s statement came after a meeting with Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Mr Zardari said that the roughly 30 million people in Pakistan reported to be displaced by the floods are “truly paying in the forms of their lives and their livelihoods for the industrialization of other countries”.

“And justice would be that we work together” globally, “that we’re not left alone to deal with the consequences of this tragedy”.

According to Pakistan, the disaster has caused damages of upto $30bn.

So far UN agencies and several countries, including the US, have sent 129 planeloads of aid.

Authorities in Pakistan are struggling with outbreak of diseases among survivors.

In Sindh, waterborne infections, malaria and dengue fever have caused more than 300 deaths since July, according to health officials.

(Additional reporting by agencies)