UAE opens air bridge to send humanitarian aid to Pakistan

Pakistan's government has declared a state of emergency and called for international assistance

A flooded residential area in Pakistan's Balochistan province. The country's death toll from monsoon flooding since June has reached 1,136. AFP

Vehicles move along a flooded road in Mehar, Pakistan. Reuters

Soldiers load relief goods on to an army helicopter during a relief operation in Sawat, Pakistan. Reuters

Displaced people wait to receive food aid in the flood-hit Dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab province. AFP

A cook prepares food for displaced people at a centre run by charity Saylani Welfare in Sukkur, Sindh province. AFP

Displaced people eat food provided by Saylani Welfare in Sukkur. AFP

A baby sleeps in a hammock as its parents wait for assistance along a road in Mehar, Pakistan. Reuters

Displaced women show their national identity cards at a government office in Sukkur as they wait to receive 25,000 Pakistani rupees ($112) in compensation for their damaged houses. AFP

Rescue workers use a boat to drop children back home after school in Dera Ghazi Khan district. AFP

Smiling through the hardship, people who fled their homes with their belongings wade through a flooded street in the Sohbatpur area of Jaffarabad district in Balochistan. AFP

Flood waters at Panjal Shaikh village on the outskirts of Sukkur in Sindh province, Pakistan. AFP

Newborn Yasmeem asleep on a cot at her flood-damaged house on the outskirts of Sukkur, Sindh province. AFP

Ghulam Rasool wades through his flood-damaged mud house in Sukkur, Sindh province. AFP

Residents of Karachi receive food aid distributed by the Nikhil Foundation. EPA

Workers from the Nikhil Foundation sort water bottles to be distributed among the people recovering from floods in Karachi, Pakistan. EPA

A chicken is slaughtered to feed a family who fled heavy monsoon rains in the Sohbatpur area of Jaffarabad district in Balochistan province. AFP

Pakistan Army soldiers in Shikarpur, Sindh province, distribute relief food bags to people who escaped the floods. AFP

Flood damage to a road on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan. AP

People who escaped the floods dry their belongings at a camp in the Sanghar district of Sindh province in Pakistan. EPA

A householder sweeps muddy water out of his home in Charsadda district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. EPA

A displaced man wades through a flooded area after fleeing his home on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan. AP

People wade through a flooded area following heavy rains in Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. EPA

Heavy rains brought waist-deep flood water to parts of Charsadda district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. EPA

The UAE has begun operating an air bridge to transport humanitarian aid to those affected by the monsoon flooding in Pakistan.

The death toll has reached 1,061 since June, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Monday, with 28 more people having died in the past 24 hours.

The crisis has forced the government to declare a state of emergency, mobilise the army for relief efforts and call for international assistance.

Villages with weak infrastructure from the Sindh province to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have been affected so far, with rescue teams struggling to access many areas.

The UAE's Ministry of Defence, represented by the Joint Operations Command, is overseeing the delivery of relief aid from the Emirates, which includes shelter materials, humanitarian needs, food and medical parcels.

Hamad Obaid Al Zaabi, the UAE's ambassador to Pakistan, said the first Emirati relief aid plane flew on Monday morning to Pakistan and will be followed by several more in the coming days to provide support.

The aid is being delivered following directives issued by President Sheikh Mohamed to provide all forms of support to Pakistan.

Mr Al Zaabi said the provision of aid underlines the strength of relations between the two countries.

On Saturday, Sheikh Mohamed ordered 3,000 tonnes of food supplies and other humanitarian aid to be delivered to Pakistan.

The UAE aid includes about 3,000 tonnes of food supplies, medical and pharmaceutical items, and tents and shelter materials.

Teams from the UAE will also provide humanitarian support.

The death toll is likely to rise because hundreds of villages in the mountainous north have been cut off by flood-swollen rivers washing away roads and bridges, AFP reported.

The annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent but it also brings destruction.

Officials say this year's flooding has affected more than 33 million people — one in seven Pakistanis — destroying or badly damaging nearly a million homes.

The NDMA said more than two million acres of cultivated crops had been wiped out, with 3,457 kilometres of roads destroyed and 157 bridges washed away.

Pakistan flood's death toll rises — in pictures