Floods kill 1000 and affect a million in crisis-hammered Pakistan

The United Nations says up to 1 million people have been affected by the flooding. There are also reports of a cholera outbreak in Swat district. ''At least 713 people died in Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsada while the death toll in Shangla and Swat districts is over 300,'' a provincial government spokesman, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said. ''This is the worst flood in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's history.'' Pakistan's weather bureau said an ''unprecedented'' 312 millimetres of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the north-west.Manuel Bessler, head of the UN's office for the co-ordination of humanitarian assistance in Pakistan, told the BBC: ''We still do not have the full picture because of the breakdown in communications … We have a planning figure of 1 million people affected directly by the floods.'' Officials said the deluge was the worst since 1929 in north-west Pakistan, where water levels in dams continued to rise. With more rain forecast for all but that part of the country, increasing the likelihood of more flash floods and landslides, government officials issued pleas for international aid. Also hit hard was the Swat Valley, where the government has been working on reconstruction after last year's operation there to remove the militants. Of the 65 bridges washed away by the rains, 25 were in Swat. The scale of the floods and the government's inability to provide immediate relief have led to widespread resentment and bitterness among those affected. Displaced people have contacted local reporters and accused government officials of apathy and incompetence. The President, Asif Ali Zardari, who is scheduled to visit Britain this week, has already been criticised by his political opponents, who want him to cancel his trip and focus on relief efforts. About 30,000 Pakistani soldiers, 21 army helicopters and 150 boats had been deployed to carry out rescue and relief operations, an army spokesman said, adding that 19,000 people had been rescued.