Over 200 dead as heavy rains lash Pakistan, PoK
Peshawar/Islamabad, Aug 15 (PTI): At least 214 people were killed and several injured as heavy rains lashed several parts of Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir over the past 36 hours, officials said Friday.
Most of the deaths occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after torrential rains triggered flash floods in various districts, while floods damaged scores of buildings and blocked major arteries, including the Karakoram Highway and Baltistan Highway in Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Heavy rain in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is likely to continue intermittently until August 21, the authorities have warned.
At least 198 people, including 14 women and 12 children, were killed and several remained missing as flash floods wreaked havoc across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the last 24 hours, spokesman for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said here.
Buner district witnessed the highest number of deaths at 92, according to the PDMA. The other affected districts include Mansehra, Bajaur, Batagram, Lower Dir and Shangla.
The PDMA spokesperson, however, added that the number of those dead or injured is expected to rise further as scores of people are still missing in affected areas. “A total of Rs 500 million has been released for the districts most affected by floods as per the instructions issued by Chief Minister Amin Ali Gandapur,” the PDMA report said.
Two helicopters of the provincial government were working to rescue people. One met with a tragic accident due to bad weather resulting in the death of two crew members and three relief workers in Mohmand tribal district.
A notification addressed to all hospitals in the province ordered the establishment of flood control rooms in order to ensure the availability of medicines and the functioning of medical equipment.
Meanwhile, in Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), eight people died and two others went missing as flash floods hit Ghizer district, officials said.
The floods damaged more than a dozen houses, several vehicles, schools, and health units, while blocking major arteries, including the Karakoram Highway and Baltistan Highway, at several points.
The northeastern Neelum Valley also faced major disruptions, where tourists were shifted to safety.
More than 600 tourists camping at the Ratti Gali lake base were advised to remain in place after the link road was damaged.
The floods also washed away two connecting bridges over Lawat Nullah, and the swollen Jagran Nullah tore away a bridge in Kundal Shahi.
A scenic riverside restaurant and at least three houses in the area were also swept away.
In the Jhelum Valley, a cloudburst over Palhot unleashed a flash flood that damaged part of the road and left dozens of vehicles stranded.
With the Neelum River rising rapidly, authorities issued a flood warning and plan to relocate vulnerable riverside families.
In PoK's Muzaffarabad district, a massive landslide in Sarli Sacha village hit a home, leaving six members of a family buried and feared dead.
In Sudhnoti district, a 26-year-old man died after being swept away by a stream, while in Bagh district, a 57-year-old woman was killed when her home collapsed.
Since late June, the beginning of monsoon season, torrential rains have wreaked havoc across the country — especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern regions — deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas.
The death toll since then till Thursday had crossed 325, including 142 children, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
