World News: Fresh Pakistan floods force one million to quit homes

Published on Friday 27 August 2010 12:40

Fresh flooding in southern Pakistan has displaced almost a million people in the past 48 hours, the UN has said.

In Sindh province, 70 per cent of the 300,000 residents of the town of Thatta have been forced to flee to safer areas after the Indus river burst its banks.

A UN spokeswoman said teams in the south were working around the clock.

Further north, floodwaters are starting to recede, revealing the full extent of the damage caused by the disaster that has affected some 17 million people.

Meanwhile, the UN said it was reviewing security for its staff after US officials warned that militants planned to attack foreign aid workers.

One Taliban spokesman said that the presence of foreign organisations was "unacceptable". However, there have been no attacks since the humanitarian crisis unfolded.

The Pakistani authorities have ordered people to leave several towns and cities in the south as a flood surge breached more embankments on the Indus river.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said low-lying areas of Sindh province would remain under water for the next two weeks.

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