UN to Air Lift Supplies to Conflict-Hit Pakistan
| Children wait at a refugee camp in Mardan, northwest Pakistan, part of a U.N.-estimated 360,600 refugees who have fled Swat, Dir and Buner districts in recent days, 11 May 2009 |
The United Nations refugee agency says it will airlift 120 tons of humanitarian supplies to help Pakistanis fleeing a military offensive against the Taliban.
The agency’s chief, Antonio Guterres, said Monday that the “speed and scale” of the displacement of people in northwestern Pakistan requires an immediate international humanitarian response.
The airlift will include $584,000 worth of plastic sheets, portable warehouses and mosquito nets. The United States also announced Monday that it is providing $4.9 million in emergency aid to displaced families.