ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) on Friday said it had started distributing 4,000 winter kits in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to help communities affected by harsh weather.

The program is part of KSrelief’s larger winterization initiative that was launched at the Saudi embassy in Islamabad earlier in January. Under the broader initiative, 22,000 winter kits will be distributed among more than 154,000 Pakistanis across the country.

Each winter kit includes two polyester quilts, warm shawls and winter clothing. Around 800 kits will be distributed in each of the Chitral, Upper Dir, Upper Kohistan, Mansehra and Kurram districts.

"The initiative targets communities severely impacted by harsh winter conditions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as well as selected areas of Punjab and Sindh experiencing extremely low temperatures," KSrelief said in a statement.

The project is being carried out in close collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority, provincial disaster management authorities, the Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Hayat Foundation.

The statement said the initiative reaffirms KSrelief's continued commitment to alleviating winter-related hardships and improving the living conditions of vulnerable populations across Pakistan.

The Saudi charity has launched numerous projects across Pakistan in food security, health, education and disaster response in recent years, deepening the bonds of friendship and brotherhood between the two countries.