Pakistan facing floods for further two weeks

The devastating floods in Pakistan are unlikely to recede fully for almost a fortnight, the country's top forecaster said yesterday.

The grim prediction for the more than 20 million people made homeless or otherwise affected by the deluge came from senior meteorologist Arif Mahmood who said existing river torrents were still heading to major cities such as Hyderabad and Sukkur in the south and could yet cause more floods.

But there were no heavy rains forecast this week. "This is a good news for aid agencies involved in the rescue and relief operations," he said.

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The scale of the disaster has thrown a strain on the government and the police and army, which are handling much of the relief effort.

Islamic militants clashed with police overnight in the north-west, and police said the insurgents were seeking to exploit the state's weaknesses as it dealt with the floods.

The floods that began three weeks ago have submerged tens of thousands of villages, killed around 1,500 people and affected 20 million others.

They hit first in the north-west, wiping out much of its infrastructure, and then the swollen rivers gushed toward the south and the east, displacing millions more.

About a fifth of Pakistani territory has been affected.

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The United Nations appealed last week for $459m(306m) in international aid for immediate relief to Pakistan.

Aid groups complained that the response so far had been weak but the organisation said yesterday that more than half of the money had come in.

Spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said: "There has been an improvement in funding. Donors are realising the scale of the disaster but the challenges are absolutely massive and the floods are not over."

He added: "The size of (the area affected by) this disaster is equivalent to Austria, Switzerland and Belgium combined. That's pretty scary."

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There are fears of a second wave of death from disease and hunger.

Rescue workers have been trying to get more plastic sheeting and tents for an estimated 4.6 million people in Punjab and Sindh who have no shelter.

The north-west is the centre of Pakistan's fight against al Qaida and the Taliban, and attacks by militants on Tuesday highlighted the threat they still pose.

Militants first killed two members of an anti-Taliban militia in the Adezai area of Peshawar as they went to pray at a mosque.

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Shortly afterwards dozens of militants from the Khyber tribal region, which lies near Peshawar and along the Afghan border, attacked police posts in the Sarband area of Peshawar.

Several militants were killed, but there were no police casualties.

The Pakistani Taliban have urged people to reject any foreign aid, saying it will only be stolen by the political elite.

The government's standing has been badly damaged by its chaotic response to the floods, although observers believe few governments could have been able to handle such a large-scale disaster well.

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President Asif Ali Zardari was in Russia yesterday for a regional summit. He was expected to stay only a few hours before returning. An earlier trip to Europe lasting several days as the disaster was unfolding severely damaged his already-poor reputation.

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