The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) continues its humanitarian activities wherever and whenever the need arises to play a key role in alleviating the impact of disasters and the difficulties afflicting peoples.
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In this regard, AFAD has stood by the flood victims in Pakistan since the first day of the disaster by providing them with various humanitarian and relief assistance.
Since mid-June, the total number of injuries in accidents related to torrential rains and floods across the country has reached 12,722 people.
The monsoon season in Pakistan, as in neighboring countries, usually leads to heavy rains, but this year is the wettest since 1961.
Heavy rains and floods affected more than 33 million of the country’s approximately 220 million residents, causing an estimated $10 billion in damage to already weak infrastructure, according to the country’s National Disaster Authority.
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Facing this scene, Afad sent its first team to Pakistan on August 7.
Following the increase in heavy rains and the resulting floods, AFAD sent another team of 20 people to Pakistan at the end of the same month.
Since then, “AFAD” has continued its relief activities in various cities of Sindh province, where it has set up thousands of tents and distributed hundreds of food baskets to Pakistanis affected by the floods.
To find out about the Foundation’s work, a team covered the relief activities of “AFAD” in the city of Mirpur Khas.
Although the distance between Karachi and Mirpur Khas is 240 km, it took more than 6 hours to reach the latter due to the damage to the roads due to floods and rain.
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As we get closer and closer to Mirpur Khas, we notice the presence of tents on the left and right sides of the road, as the fields designated for setting up tents have also been submerged in the flood waters.
Among the most prominent sufferings of the flood victims in Mirpur Khas, like other areas of Pakistan, is the lack of fresh food, clean drinking water, and the scarcity of fans, which have recently been exacerbated by the high temperatures.
The lack of bathrooms and toilets is one of the most important forms of suffering of the flood victims in the region.
Concerns are increasing about the spread of diseases and epidemics in the region due to the living conditions resulting from the floods.
A special AFAD team in Mirpur provided 500 food baskets to displaced flood victims in a school in the area.
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Commenting on the activities of the Turkish Foundation, Hamzah Tash Dalan, AFAD Vice President, said that 11 planes loaded with Turkish aid have so far arrived in Pakistan, while the 12th plane is being prepared.
He added, “We are focusing on transporting aid via railways to increase its capacity compared to airlines.”
He explained that each train contains about 500 tons of aid, which consists of foodstuffs, cleaning materials, tents, medical supplies and medicines.
“We aim to set up more than 100,000 tents and provide more than 500,000 food baskets to the flood victims in Pakistan,” he said, stressing that they have continued their relief activities without interruption during the last 10 days.
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In turn, Zain al-Abidin Mumin, Wali of Mirpur Khas, said that “the floods resulting from heavy rain damaged 300 kilometers of roads in Mirpur Khas.”
He added that “more than 200 homes were damaged by the floods throughout Mirpur, especially, along with more than a million people.”
Momen stressed that “Turkey stands by Pakistan whenever the latter feels the need to do so.”
He expressed his thanks to the government and people of Turkey for the assistance it provided to the flood victims in Pakistan.
As for Naim Aktar, one of the Pakistani beneficiaries of AFAD aid, he praised Turkey’s remembrance of the Pakistani people in their current crisis.
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He expressed his thanks to the Turkish people and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for extending a helping hand to those affected by the floods in his country.
