Taliban may attack Pakistan flood aid workers

THE Taliban hinted yesterday they may launch attacks against foreigners helping Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the country’s history, saying their presence was “unacceptable”. The UN said it would not be deterred by violent threats.

The militant group has attacked aid workers in the country before, and an outbreak of violence could complicate a relief effort that has already struggled to reach the eight million people who are in need of emergency assistance.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq claimed the US and other countries that have pledged support are not really focused on providing aid to flood victims but had other motives he did not specify.

“Behind the scenes they have certain intentions, but on the face of it they are talking of relief and help,” Tariq told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location. “No relief is reaching the affected people, and when the victims are not receiving help, then this horde of foreigners is not acceptable to us at all.”

He strongly hinted that the militants could resort to violence, saying “when we say something is unacceptable to us, one can draw one’s own conclusion”.

Foreign countries have pledged nearly $800 million (€629m) and provided aid workers to help Pakistan cope with floods that began almost a month ago with the onset of the monsoon and have ravaged a massive swath of Pakistan, from the mountainous north to its agricultural heartland.

The US military has also stepped in to help, flying helicopters that have evacuated flood victims and delivered relief supplies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the north-west province hit hardest by the floods.

It is unclear how many foreigners are operating on the ground in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal area where the Pakistani Taliban are strongest. Many aid organisations have been in Pakistan for years and use networks of locals in the most dangerous areas.

The United Nations said yesterday that the group won’t let violent threats deter its relief effort.

“There is a lot of work ahead and millions of people who need our assistance,” said Maurizio Giulano, spokesman for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “We would find it inhumane for someone to target us and our work, effectively harming the millions of people whose lives we strive to save.”

The Pakistani Taliban carried out a suicide attack against the office of the UN’s World Food Program in Islamabad last October, killing five staffers. In March, militants attacked the offices of a US-based Christian aid group helping earthquake survivors in north-western Pakistan, killing six Pakistani employees.

Violence has been relatively low in the country since the floods hit, but three bomb attacks in north-western Pakistan on Monday killed at least 36 people.

While increased Taliban attacks would complicate the flood relief effort, the group could also risk backlash from the millions of victims who have lost everything and are desperate to receive food and shelter.

The death toll in the floods stands around 1,500 people, but the disaster ranks as one of Pakistan’s worst ever because of the scale and massive economic damage, especially to the country’s vital agricultural sector. The UN said earlier this week that 800,000 are still cut off by the floods and accessible only by air.

Pakistani officials urged anyone left in three southern towns yesterday to evacuate immediately as floodwaters broke through a levee

The swollen Indus River broke through the Sur Jani embankment in southern Sindh province late Wednesday, threatening the towns of Sujawal, Daro and Mir Pur Batoro, said Mansoor Sheikh, a top government official in Thatta district.