U.S. Pledges $110 M To Pakistan To Help With Growing Humanitarian Crisis
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday announced that the U.S. will send $110 million in aid to Pakistan to help the more than two million people displaced by a government-led offensive against the Taliban, the New York Times reports (Lander, New York Times, 5/20). The money is in addition to the $60 million the U.S. has given to Pakistan for humanitarian efforts since last August. The aid is "essential to the global security and security of the United States," Clinton said during a White House briefing.
Pakistan's military began the operation against Taliban militants in the northwest region of the country earlier this month "after a peace deal collapsed and the militants moved within 60 miles of the capital, Islamabad," CNN writes (CNN, 5/19). Recent fighting in the Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad, has increased the numbers of Pakistani refugees, after the government of Pakistan urged civilians to leave (Falk, World Watch/CBS, 5/18). The U.N. estimates 48% of those displaced by the fighting are children.
"A WHO spokesman in Geneva said late last week the health situation was not extremely serious but diseases were starting to take hold," Reuters writes. The U.N. refugee agency has airlifted 120 tons of supplies to the displaced, including plastic sheets for shelters and mosquito nets (Birsel, Reuters, 5/19).
A breakdown of where the aid will go and how it will be used is available here (White House press release, 5/19).
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