The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on Sunday reached Pakistan with relief goods for the flood victims donated by various countries and those organisations which are working for the well-being of humanity. The relief goods, loaded in Nato's aircraft - Trainer Cargo Aircraft 707 includes power generators, water pumps and tents from Slovakia.
Nato would also provide services of airlift to those flood-hit people who are left stranded in the midst of this disaster. Till date, over $800 million had either been pledged or received in cash and kind for the flood victims. The UN had flagged the idea of revising the target in mid-Sep 2010, as the number of people requiring immediate assistance are increasing sharply.
"The Nato cargo flight is part of the international community's overall effort to help Pakistan in this major humanitarian disaster. The Alliance 's support to the flood relief efforts follows requests that we received from the Pakistani authorities", said a Nato official while talking to reporters at the airport.
Last week, Nato took the decision of providing services in delivering the aid to the flood-hit areas of Pakistan. However, since the first request for humanitarian assistance by the Pakistani authorities in early August, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Co-ordination Centre (EADRCC) at Nato Headquarters in Brussels has been acting as a clearing house for humanitarian assistance offered by Nato Allies, partner nations and international organisations. The 28-Nations alliance would provide planes or ships for the flood-affected areas, depending on the nature of the aid, which would be decided by member states or non-governmental organisations.
This is the second instance in which the Nato is engaged in relief efforts in Pakistan, following the 2005 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people and left around 3.5 million homeless. Torrential monsoon rains unleashed the worst ever floods for 80 years, affecting 20 million people in Pakistan's worst natural disaster.
The floods have left nearly 1,500 people dead in Pakistan - a country which finds itself at the top of US foreign policy for being on the frontline of the US-led war against al Qaeda.
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