Navy, air force continue relief efforts

Army soldiers help to evacuate a man after he arrived via helicopter to a military base in Khuazakhela in Swat. PHOTO: REUTERS

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Navy search and rescue operation, codenamed MADAD, in the flood-hit areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is continuing for the fourth consecutive day. Pakistan Navy’s SAR teams have been augmented with two additional SSG (N)/ Marine teams along with requisite equipment from Karachi, says a press release.

After completing rescue operations in Charsadda district, these teams have been reassigned to the Nowshera Kalan region. Around 5,000 persons were stranded in the area. PN teams have so far rescued over 2,000 people from Nowshera Kalan. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is also continuing its relief operations. PAF C-130 aircraft have transported more than 500 stranded people, including six foreigners, from Gilgit and Skardu. Separately, the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), the public welfare wing of the outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawa, has set up relief camps in 12 districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab to help the affected people. Salman Shahid, the spokesperson for the FIF, told The Express Tribune by phone from Lahore that thousands of volunteers are taking part in the operation. (ONLINE with additional reporting by Zia Khan)

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2010.