2010-08-14
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says Afghan refugees who are living in flood-stricken Pakistan are among the most vulnerable victims.  The UNHCR says it is assisting hundreds of thousands of Afghans whose camps are overwhelmed by flooding. 

Pakistan's prime minister now says some 20 million people are affected by the worst flooding to hit the country in over a generation.  This figure is much higher than the 14 million estimated by the United Nations.

In either case, the number is huge.  The U.N. refugee agency is warning the enormous crisis facing Pakistan is still unfolding.  Spokesman Adrian Edwards says the after effects of this catastrophe will be felt for years to come.  

"There continues to be massive destruction as the bloated rivers flow southwards across the plains and the crisis, in our view, will not be over when the flooding recedes due to homelessness, hunger and illness.  The rationale for our presence in Pakistan relates to the fact that it is the biggest caseload of refugees that we deal with in the world and displaced persons," he said. 

At one time, the U.N. refugee agency assisted more than four million Afghan refugees in Pakistan.  That number now has gone down to 1.7 million.  Of them, the agency says 1.4 million reside in the worst hit areas.

Edwards says many Afghan refugees now are without shelter and have lost their food, livestock and all their possessions.

"To illustrate the problems that we are up against, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, we have now found that 78 refugee camps across 17 districts in the province are overwhelmed by flooding, erasing more than 12, 500 homes, leaving 85,500 refugees homeless.  Many homes have been seriously damaged among both refugees and local Pakistanis," he said. 

Edwards says his agency, in coordination with others, is providing safe temporary shelter and emergency food and medical assistance to these vulnerable homeless refugees, many of whom are women, children and elderly people. 

He says the U.N. refugee agency also is helping Pakistani communities ravaged by the immediate flooding.  He says the agency's humanitarian operations will continue well after the emergency phase is over.

Edwards says over the coming weeks and months, UNHCR would be helping refugee families and affected Pakistani communities to return to their homes in as dignified a manner as possible.

2010-06-08 ::: 10 Nato soldiers including seven from U.S. dead in Afghanistan
Seven American, two Australian, and one French soldier have died in battle in Afghanistan.

The ten NATO troops were killed in separate incidents across the country. Most died from roadside bombings.

Five U.S. soldiers died when an improvised explosive device was triggered in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said Tuesday.

Another U.S. soldier was killed in the south of the country in an exchange involving small arms fire. The seventh U.S. soldier to be killed was the victim of another roadside bombing. It also took place in southern Afghanistan.

Two Australian soldiers and an explosives sniffer dog were killed by a roadside bomb in the Mirabad Valley on Monday morning. They were from Brisbane, Queensland, and were on their first tour of Afghanistan.

The French military reported a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion was killed by a rocket in Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul. 3 other Legionnaires were wounded in the attack.

Separately a U.S. citizen and another person were killed when a suicide bomber drove a Toyota Corolla into a police training center in Kandahar. "Our sympathies go out to those who lost loved ones in this callous attack. The United States will continue to stand with our Afghan partners to fight terrorism and help the Afghan government provide security, safety and prosperity to its people," the U.S. embassy in Kabul said in a statement.

Acting Australian Defence Force chief David Hurley summed up the proceedings Tuesday. When asked if the NATO-led coalition was winning the war in Afghanistan, he replied, "Bodies aren't going to tell whether you win or lose this war."

"Some good things are happening and we're heading in the right direction."

2010-05-23 ::: Times Square bomb suspect acknowledges Taliban funding support
Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square bomb suspect, has claimed that he received financial support from the Pakistan Taliban for his failed operation.

Two U.S. law enforcement officials close to the probe revealed on Friday that Shazad had confirmed during his interrogation that he had received money from the Pakistan Taliban through the "hawala," route.

According to the New York Times, the officials spoke to the media on condition of anonymity because the investigation is yet to be completed.

The attempted attack set off a massive probe involving hundreds of federal agents in several cities.

Nearly three weeks later, investigators have so far concluded that once he was funded, Shahzad acted alone, the officials said. (ANI)