Hundreds of thousands flee new Pakistan flood threat

The latest evacuations were ordered in Thatta district of Sindh province.

In the city of Thatta, around 175,000 people – around 70 per cent of the city's population – were believed to have packed up and left overnight. Authorities are trying to repair the broken levees and arrange transport for people trying to leave.

United Nations spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said around a million people had been displaced in Thatta and Qambar-Shadadkot since Wednesday.

The situation in Sindh "is getting from bad to worse", he added. "We are delivering (aid) faster and faster, but the floods seemed determined to outrun our response."

The floods began with the onset of the monsoon and have ravaged a massive swathe of Pakistan, from the mountainous north to its agricultural heartland. Almost 17.2 million people have been significantly affected by the floods and about 1.2 million homes have been destroyed or badly damaged, the UN has said.

The Pakistani Taliban has hinted that it might attack foreign aid workers, a swelling number of whom have been landing in the country to help with the crisis. The militant network has a history of attacking aid groups, including agencies under the UN umbrella.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said: "We will obviously take these threats seriously as we did before, and take appropriate precautions, but we will not be deterred from doing what we believe we need to do, which is help the people of Pakistan."

Other aid organisations noted that Pakistan has long been a high-risk environment for foreigners, and said their security plans take such concerns into account.

n Landslides and floods triggered by torrential rains swept through a town in northern Turkey, killing at least 11 people.

The landslide hit dozens of homes in Gundogan, in the mainly tea-growing Black Sea province of Rize.