Pressure rises on vulnerable embankments in Thatta

THATTA: The swelling Indus has increased pressure on vulnerable points of Surjani, Monarki, Aghimani, Sonda Hilaya and Gulail Indo dykes and the area people are not satisfied with the efforts being taken by the government and the PPP’s local leadership to strengthen the flood protective embankments.

The district administration, PPP activists and the Shirazi group are utilising their potential and concentrations to get strengthened the old Surjani protective bund, the most vulnerable site due to escalating pressure of Indus for the last 48 hours ending on Tuesday evening.

Located about one kilometre away from the officially declared vulnerable Surjani protective bund on left bank of Indus, the site is exactly the same where an 800-foot breach had occurred on 17th of August 1988, causing massive and irreparable losses to the urban and rural population of taluka Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro and Jati.

The then Sindh government declared the area as calamity-stricken.

A media team, which visited the site found some 200 to 300 villagers with the staff of district administration dumping the mud containing gunny bags along the dyke under the supervision of the district president PPP Arbab Wazir Ahmed Memon.

In line, half a kilometre away former District Nazim Syed Shafqat Hussain Shah Shirazi and his elder brother Syed Aijaz Ali Shah Shirazi were also busy with an equal number of villagers to strengthen the vulnerable site.

Arbab Wazir Memon told Dawn that they had dumped over 5,000 mud filled gunny bags, wooden logs, and other material, but the site still required 15,000 empty gunny bags, to be filled with mud and dumped at the site.

PPP MPA Sadiq Memon, who was also present at the site, said that, a consignment of 10,000 empty gunny bags would reach the site soon.

He said in fact the irrigation department, since plugging the ruptured site in 1988, had not carried out its stone pitching and other maintenance.

Very calculative, PPP District President Arbab Wazir Memon, who is native of the nearby village Darro, said that the prevalent situation was absolutely different than of 1988, adding that the water quantum is comparatively high, and the velocity of wind was dangerous and the Indus water was eroding Surjani from RD 0/1 to 1/4 within the range of one and half kilometre and such a rapid way wash phenomenon was not a good sign, hence he was not confident the site would sustain the onslaught.

Meanwhile, the irrigation and RBOD authorities by strengthening the bunds of K.B Feeder lower and Indus bund along with National Highway, have succeeded in temporarily containing the water, overtopping the Indus from near Raju Nizamani for the last one and half day which has minimised the threat to National Highway and Keenjhar Lake.

So far 12 more villages near Ali Behar and Sonda Hilaya bund have been encircled by the Indus water.

PALIJO

Chief of Awami Tehreek Rasool Bux Palijo has said that the Surjani and Monarki vulnerable dykes were getting sensitive with every passing day and irrigation authorities would be responsible for any such disaster.

At a news conference at press club on Tuesday, Mr Palijo also spoke on issues like “MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s call for martial law” and others

In an obvious reference to the Shirazi group, Sindh Culture Minister Sassui Palijo, without naming anyone, said that the PPP rivals should voluntarily dismantle their private flood protective bunds if they are really sincere with the people of Thatta.

She said that the Sindh government was utilising its entire potential and resources to provide maximum relief to the flood-affected people. She said it was a great challenge and the nation would definitely face it with courage.

Forty Afghan Taliban this week, claims Isaf

KABUL: Afghan and Nato-led troops have killed 40 Taliban insurgents in offensives this week in eastern Afghanistan, coalition forces said on Tuesday.

“The joint force has killed approximately 40 Taliban fighters and captured eight key Taliban facilitators in recent days,” the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said in a statement.

It said the ongoing operation, which began on Saturday and involves air strikes, uncovered arms and vests for use in suicide attacks.

A Taliban spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Flood recovery could take years, says Zardari

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari warned the country could take three years or more to recover from near-month long floods as authorities battled to protect cities from rising waters.

The floods have killed 1,500 people and affected up to 20 million nationwide in the country's worst natural disaster, with the threat of disease ever present in the camps sheltering survivors.

“Your guess is as good as mine, but three years is a minimum,” Zardari told reporters when asked how long it would take Pakistan to go through relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation after the floods.

“I don't think Pakistan will ever fully recover but we will move on,” the president added, saying the government was working to protect people from future flooding.

Zardari was denounced for failing to cut short a visit to Europe at the start of the disaster, and while he defended that decision, he acknowledged that some criticism of the government's response was justified.

“There will always be a 'could have been better, would have been better, should have been better'... (but) you have to understand how enormous the issue (the scale of the disaster) is,” he said.

US support of Pakistan ‘strategic mistake’: Spanta

WASHINGTON: A senior Afghan official is urging the United States to re-evaluate its friendship with Pakistan, accusing the country of supporting Al-Qaeda and other extremists.

Writing in Monday's Washington Post, Afghanistan's national security adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta said Pakistani policy has helped maintain a level of violence that is leading to the erosion of western support for the war.

US-led troops are deployed with a mission to fight extremist groups, but the task “has been compounded by another strategic failure: the mistaken embrace of 'strategic partners' who have, in fact, been nurturing terrorism,” he wrote.

“While we are losing dozens of men and women to terrorist attacks every day, the terrorists' main mentor continues to receive billions of dollars in aid and assistance. How is this fundamental contradiction justified?” Spanta wrote.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have long had a fraught relationship. Pakistan was a supporter of the Taliban regime but switched sides after the September 11, 2001 attacks, becoming the frontline US partner.

US officials credit Pakistan with stepping up the fight against home-grown Taliban, including through a blistering assault in its tribal northwest last year, but many believe Pakistani intelligence has maintained links with extremists targeting Afghanistan and India.

Spanta acknowledged bluntly that international support has dropped for the Afghan campaign, writing: “Global opinion has also turned against us.”

While acknowledging western concerns were partially due to Afghanistan's corruption, Spanta also pointed to Pakistan, saying: “We have failed to mobilise people for a cause where the fighting is in one place and the enemy is in another.”

Many experts believe that Pakistan' top goal in Afghanistan is ensuring it can exert influence after the US pullout. US President Barack Obama wants to start removing combat troops in mid-2011.

US troop figures in Iraq below 50,000: military

BAGHDAD: The number of American soldiers in Iraq has dropped below 50,000 ahead of an August 31 declaration of an end to combat operations, the US military said Tuesday.

“US military force levels in Iraq are below 50,000,” it said in a statement. “US military forces will transition to Operation New Dawn, effective September 1, 2010.”

The last American brigade designated as a “combat brigade” left Iraq and crossed into Kuwait on Thursday. All remaining US brigades in Iraq are labelled “advise and assist” brigades.

Shortly after coming into office in 2009, President Barack Obama pledged that the US would end combat operations in Iraq by the end of August, at which point troop figures would drop below 50,000.

That is less than a third of the peak figure of around 170,000 during “the surge” of 2007, when Iraq was in the midst of a brutal insurgency.

All American soldiers must leave Iraq by the end of 2011, under a bilateral security pact.

The withdrawal comes amid a political impasse in Iraq which has seen no new government formed since parliamentary elections in March, which resulted in no single party winning a majority. —AFP

Pakistan-New Zealand itinerary altered for World Cup

WELLINGTON: Pakistan cricket team’s tour of New Zealand will feature fewer Tests and more one-day matches to help the teams prepare for next year’s World Cup, according to the itinerary released on Tuesday.

The number of Tests has been cut from three to two with the one-day schedule expanded to six games in addition to three Twenty20 matches.

“As part of our lead-in to the World Cup, we have agreed with the Pakistan Cricket Board to play more short-form cricket to prepare optimally,” New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said.

“We have agreed to move from three Tests to two to allow the addition of another ODI and three Twenty20 internationals, which makes sense for both teams in the final weeks before the World Cup commences.”

The 2011 Cricket World Cup, to be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, runs from February 19 to April 2.

Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand will start in December with the Twenty20 internationals to be followed by the Tests and then the one-day series. —AFP

Tour schedule

Twenty20 internationals
December 26 – at Eden Park, Auckland.
December 28 – at Seddon Park, Hamilton.
December 30 – at AMI Stadium, Christchurch.

Tests
January 7-11 – at Seddon Park, Hamilton.
January 15-19 – at the Basin Reserve, Wellington.

One-day internationals
January 22 – at Westpac Stadium, Wellington.
January 26 – at Queenstown Events Centre, Queenstown.
January 29 – at AMI Stadium, Christchurch.
February 1 – at McLean Park, Napier.
February 3 – at Seddon Park, Hamilton.
February 5 – at Eden Park, Auckland.

President Zardari defends govt flood response

SHAHDADKOT: President Asif Ali Zardari defended the government's much-criticised response to the country's record-breaking flood crisis as emergency workers worked frantically to shore up a system of levees protecting two southern cities.

The floods, which began nearly a month ago with hammering rains in the country's northwest, have affected more than 17 million people, a UN official said, warning that the crisis was outstripping relief efforts. About 1,500 people have died in the floods, most in the first few days, though the crisis continues to grow.

President Zardari said that anger at the government in the coming months is inevitable given the scale of the disaster, comparing it to the anti-government sentiment generated by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the United States.

''There will be discontent, there is no way any nation, even a superpower....can bring the same level of satisfaction that will be close to the expectations of the people,'' Zardari said in an interview Monday with a small group of foreign reporters in the capital, Islamabad. ''Surely we will try and meet them as much as we can.''

Still, he defended his handling of the crisis and said the government ''had functioned to its fullest capacity.''

The widespread misery of the floods has triggered speculation of social unrest, food riots or even a challenge to the government's rule before its term ends in 2013.

The floods have so far destroyed or damaged 1.2 million homes and affected 17.2 million people, UN spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said.

''The floods are outrunning our relief efforts. We move faster and faster, but the finish line keeps moving further ahead,'' Giuliano said.

In Shahdadkot, in the province of Sindh, authorities are increasingly worried that even the 10 miles (18 kilometres) of new levees soldiers have built may not hold back floods in the city, and Qambar city further to the south.

Workers piled stones and sandbags to plug leaks in the levees, trying to stay ahead of any damage to the defences.

''It is the last-ditch effort to save the city,'' said Brig Khawar Baig. ''We are trying to block the water here. If it crosses over, we fear it will go further south and inundate more towns.''

Ninety per cent of Shadad Kot's 350,000 residents have already fled the city. Many have also left Qambar and other nearby towns.

On the eastern side of the city, levees were under pressure from 9-foot-high floodwaters, said Yaseen Shar, the top administrative official.

Zardari has been criticised for traveling to Europe on a 10-day trip just as the crisis was unfolding. The anger against the already unpopular president among some sections of the media has left him looking more politically isolated than ever.

''I have my own reasons for being where I was at what times,'' he said, saying his meetings with the leaders of France and Great Britain were essential.

Zardari's party has a solid majority and there is no constitutional mechanism to get rid of him before elections. Historically the army in Pakistan has stepped in to end civilian rule, but analysts agree the current crop of generals do not want to enter into politics.

Asked whether there may be political consequences from the floods, Zardari said: ''Anybody can lose the coming election and some other political force can win,'' he said, adding that he still thought his Pakistan's Peoples Party would emerge victorious.

The floodwaters have devastated lives from the mountainous north to the southern plains, and they are expected to begin draining into the Arabian Sea in the coming days.

Hundreds of people who fled the deluge blocked a highway near the town of Kot Addu in the Punjab province to protest the slow pace of aid deliveries.

''No food came here for the last two days...we can wait — children can't,'' said Mohammad Iqbal, one of about 400 protesters.

Local charities, the army and international agencies are providing food, water, medicine and shelter to the displaced, but millions have received little or no help. Aid officials warn that waterborne diseases such as cholera now pose a threat.

On Sunday, the government said the world has given or pledged more than $800 million of aid. — AP