Nato steps up aid to Pakistan

Nato is to expand its airlift of relief supplies to earthquake-hit Pakistan, but has acknowledged its humanitarian role has limits.

“There are other organisations in the front line to do humanitarian relief work,” said alliance spokesman James Appathurai. “Nato is not, nor does it see itself to be, a high-end relief organisation.”

However, he said, alliance cargo planes were starting to ferry hundreds of tonnes of UN tents and blankets from Turkey to Pakistan.

Military commanders are also drawing up plans that could see units of the alliance’s elite Nato Response Force – including air traffic controllers, engineers and medics – deployed to quake-hit parts of Pakistan.

Nato began airlifting aid from Europe to Pakistan last week, but is still debating the use of other assets from its military arsenal 11 days after the quake left hundreds of thousands in desperate need of food, medicine and shelter.