ISLAMABAD: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) completed the distribution of 12,000 food packages in the flood-affected areas of Pakistan’s northwestern Chitral and Dir districts on Wednesday, the aid agency said in a statement.

KSrelief, with one of the largest humanitarian budgets for aid agencies across the world, has been undertaking humanitarian projects across 88 countries. Pakistan is the fifth largest beneficiary of the organization’s aid and humanitarian operations. According to KSrelief data, the agency has completed 185 projects in Pakistan in education, health care, water, sanitation, hygiene, emergency camps, and community support. These projects have collectively cost roughly $173 million in the last 17 years.

Melting glaciers and heavy rainfall triggered flash floods in the country’s Dir and Chitral districts in July 2023, destroying several houses and forcing hundreds to flee the areas. KSrelief has been providing food baskets and other relief items to people affected by the floods.

“KSrelief completes distribution of 12,000 food packages to assist the recent flood-affected areas in Chitral and Dir districts of Pakistan,” the agency said. It added that the project was conducted in collaboration with Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and aimed to ensure food security for victims of the flood in 2023-24.

The Saudi aid agency said these packages were part of the second phase of the food security support project in Pakistan for the 2023-2024 phase.

“During this second phase, KSrelief is also distributing 4,400 food packages to flood victims in Punjab’s Muzaffargarh and Bahawalnagar districts, 5,000 food packages in Sajawal and Dadu districts of Sindh province, and 11,000 food packages in Kharan, Sahabatpur, and Washuk in Balochistan,” KSrelief said. It added that the initiative aimed to benefit 226,800 people through the distribution of 32,400 food packages across Pakistan.

Each package weighs 95kg, which contains 80kg of flour, five liters of cooking oil, 5kg of sugar, and 5kg of split gram sufficient for one family throughout the month, the agency confirmed.