ISLAMABAD: At least 27 people were killed and 18 wounded in rain-related incidents in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and eastern Punjab provinces in the last three days, official statements revealed on Thursday, as heavy monsoon rains with flash floods lashed parts of the country.
The monsoon season is crucial for the region, providing essential water for agriculture, which is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. However, unprecedented cloudbursts driven by climate change have increasingly turned this vital weather pattern into a threat.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority warned earlier this week on Monday strong monsoon currents from the Bay of Bengal would trigger heavy rains and flash floods in Punjab, Azad Kashmir, Sindh and KP province.
“As a result of accidents due to recent rains, 24 people died and 17 people were injured during the last three days in KP,” the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of KP said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Punjab PDMA also mentioned the death of three people in Lahore in the last 12 hours and injuries to one.
A total of 150 houses were damaged in KP due to gusty winds and heavy rainfall of which 77 were partially damaged while 73 were destroyed, it said.
In Punjab, the eastern city of Lahore recorded the most amount of rainfall measuring at 337 millimeters with local media channels showing footage of roads, houses and even hospitals being inundated by floodwater.
“In the last 24 hours, Lahore recorded 337 mm, Gujranwala 123mm, Narowal 70mm, Kasur 62mm, Hafizabad 23mm and Sialkot 11 mm of rain,” the Punjab PDMA said.
Warning that monsoon rains would continue till August 6, it informed arrangements were in place for vulnerable districts with a high risk of flooding. The statement said there was also a high risk of flooding in the Indus and Chenab Rivers.
The top Punjab PDMA official, Irfan Ali Kathia, reaffirmed that control rooms were monitoring the situation.
He requested people to take precautionary measures and avoid touching electrical wires or poles.
“The public should stay away from mud houses and dilapidated buildings,” Kathia said. “Take special care of children and do not allow them near accumulated water in low-lying areas.”
Rains leave 27 dead, 18 injured during ongoing monsoon spell in Pakistan
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Rains leave 27 dead, 18 injured during ongoing monsoon spell in Pakistan
- Lahore receives record rain of 337 millimeters, with floodwaters inundating roads, houses, hospitals
- Authorities ask people to take precautions, stay away from electric poles and dilapidated buildings
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
