As flood waters recede, a rising tide of disease in southwest Pakistan

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Updated 30 September 2022
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As flood waters recede, a rising tide of disease in southwest Pakistan

  • 38,476 cases of malaria, skin and eye diseases, acute respiratory infection and cholera reported in Balochistan since Sept. 17, 2022
  • Influx of patients has overwhelmed Pakistan’s weak health system, particularly in Balochistan, country’s poorest province

Dera Allah Yar, BALOCHISTAN: As Yar Khan stood outside the outpatient ward at the District Headquarter Hospital (DHQ) in a small town in southwestern Pakistan, it was not his own stomach ache that worried him but the high fever that had for days gripped his one-year-old nephew.

Khan’s family fears the infant has one of the many infectious and water-borne diseases that have spread in the aftermath of devastating monsoon rains and floods in Pakistan.

Record rains in south and southwest Pakistan that began in mid-June and glacial melt in northern areas triggered the flooding that has killed over 1,600 people and affected nearly 33 million people in the South Asian nation of 220 million, sweeping away homes, crops, bridges, roads and livestock and causing an estimated $30 billion of damage.

Weeks after the rains stopped, large swaths of the country’s southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh provinces remain flooded, and millions of survivors, many living in tents, makeshift shelters or under the open sky on road sides, face a host of other problems, including diseases like diarrhea, skin infections, coughs and colds, government and relief officials say.

The presence of mosquitoes and the spread of the diseases they carry, like dengue fever and malaria, have become particularly concerning.

Data from the Balochistan health department showed around 38,476 cases of malaria, skin diseases, acute respiratory infection (ARI), cholera and eye infections have been reported in Balochistan since September 17, 2022. The World Health Organization warned on Thursday a “full-scale operation” was needed in Balochistan to stem the tide of disease.

The influx of new patients daily has overwhelmed Pakistan’s already weak health system, particularly in Balochistan, the country’s poorest and least developed province.

“I have taken him to all the doctors in my village but my nephew didn’t get well,” Khan, 21, told Arab News from Dera Allah Yar city in Balochistan’s Jaffarabad division, where he had traveled from his village of Chatan, still “neck deep” in water, six kilometers away.

“Now I have brought him to the DHQ Hospital and traveled through flood water to reach Dera Allah Yar,” the daily wage laborer added.

“For too many days I have been feeling pain in my stomach,” Khan added. “I visited all doctors in my village but they were unable to diagnose what is causing my pain and why my nephew is sick.”

“In the three or four houses of my relatives, everyone is ill.”

Tania Bibi, 20, a resident of Karam Shah Goth in Dera Allah Yar, was diagnosed with a skin disease ten days ago. But her illness is the least of her worries, she said, as her four children are all ill.

“It’s been a month, we have been living on the Dera Allah Yar highway which is surrounded by contaminated flood water,” Bibi told Arab News. “There are too many mosquitoes and insects.”

She lightly touched the spots on her face: “The pimples popped up after the flood. It used to hurt a lot, it still hurts, it’s still the same.”

Bibi said her daughters and one son had been diagnosed with malaria and anemia respectively and now another son had high fever.

Doctors at DHQ Dera Allah Yar had prescribed medicines for the whole family but Bibi, whose husband is an out-of-work daily wage laborer, said she did not have money to buy them.

The hospital itself is struggling to deal with the influx of patients from surrounding areas.

“We have a shortage of medicines and staff to deal with the overburden of patients at the DHQ Hospital,” Dr. Ishma Khoso, a senior medical officer at the DHQ Dera Allah Yar, said. “Because people from Sohbat Pur district and other far-flung areas are now coming here for treatment.”

“The same water, animals are standing in it and using it, and now people are using it to wash clothes and dishes and perhaps drinking it as well,” Khoso said, adding that the hospital was facing a “200 percent increase in the number of patients suffering from water-borne diseases.”

Dr. Imran Baloch, a medical superintendent at the hospital, said at least 12 newborn babies were being regularly treated for ARI at the facility, and the number was steadily rising, creating challenges for doctors.

“There used to be 400 patients regularly coming to the hospital but now 900 plus patients are coming [daily],” Baloch said, “so we are having a lot of difficulty in managing them.”

Umar Khan Jamali, a legislator from Jaffarabad district, called the flood “one of the most severe natural disasters in the history of Pakistan,” saying no government was capable of coping with natural catastrophes on this large scale.

“The government of Pakistan and Balochistan have made international calls for assistance but unfortunately we didn’t receive any positive response, particularly in the health crisis that surfaced after the flood,” Jamali told Arab News. “The provincial health department has been utilizing all its available resources to ensure quality health services to the flood affected people.”

Meanwhile, people like Khan and his family wait for help.

“I want my nephew to be treated by senior doctors here,” Khan said, “but due to a large number of patients in the hospital, we are facing delays in medical treatment. Despite sitting outside the OPD for five hours, I am still waiting for my turn to see a doctor.”


Bodies of 12 Pakistani migrants who died in boat sinking have been repatriated

Updated 28 February 2025
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Bodies of 12 Pakistani migrants who died in boat sinking have been repatriated

  • The boat was carrying Europe-bound migrants with more than 60 Pakistani nationals
  • Officials say 37 Pakistani were rescued while 16 died and 10 remain unaccounted for

PARACHINAR: The bodies of 12 out of at least 16 Pakistanis who died this month when a boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants sank off Libya’s coast have been repatriated to Pakistan, officials said Friday.
Most of the victims who died in the capsizing were from Kurram, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The boat was carrying more than 60 Pakistani nationals, and out of them 37 people were rescued, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Ten people remained unaccounted for.
Ashfaq Ahmed, a government administrator, said nine of the 12 bodies were sent to Kurram by helicopters on Thursday and Friday. He said the bodies of the four remaining victims will be brought home soon.
Libya, which shares borders with six nations and has a long coastline along the Mediterranean, is a main transit point for migrants escaping war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East to seek better lives in Europe.
Every year, hundreds of Pakistanis die while attempting to reach Europe via perilous land and sea routes, often facilitated by human smugglers. In January, authorities said dozens of Pakistanis died when a boat capsized off West Africa.


Security forces kill six militants in Pakistan’s northwest

Updated 28 February 2025
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Security forces kill six militants in Pakistan’s northwest

  • The incident occurred in North Waziristan during an intelligence-based operation
  • Killing of militants came on the same day a suicide attack claimed six lives in KP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed six militants in an operation in the country’s northwest on Friday, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.
The intelligence-based operation was conducted in Ghulam Khan Kalay, an area in North Waziristan, a district bordering Afghanistan that was once a stronghold of militant groups before Pakistan launched military offensives to reclaim the region. The area, along with the rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has seen a surge in militant violence since a fragile ceasefire agreement collapsed between the government and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in late 2022.
Pakistan labels TTP fighters as “khwarij,” a historical reference to an extremist sect in early Islam known for rebelling against authority, declaring other Muslims apostates, and justifying their killing.
“On 28 February 2025, security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the general area of Ghulam Khan Kalay, North Waziristan District, on reported presence of khwarij,” ISPR said. “During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location, as a result of which six khwarij were sent to hell.”
The statement added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the militants, who had been actively involved in attacks on security forces and the killing of civilians.
ISPR said a “sanitization operation” was underway to eliminate other militants in the area, reiterating that Pakistani security forces remain determined to wipe out militancy from the country.
The killing of the militants came on the same day a suicide attack at a seminary in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa claimed six lives, including that of a prominent cleric, during the Friday prayer congregation.
In another incident, an improvised explosive device blast in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, injured nine people, including a paramilitary soldier.


Pakistan to begin Ramadan on Sunday, a day after Saudi Arabia, as moon remains unseen

Updated 28 February 2025
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Pakistan to begin Ramadan on Sunday, a day after Saudi Arabia, as moon remains unseen

  • Country’s central moon sighting committee says it did not receive testimonies of Ramadan crescent
  • Pakistan’s space agency had already predicted it would be difficult to sight the moon on Friday

ISLAMABAD: The head of Pakistan’s central moon sighting committee announced on Friday the Ramadan crescent was not seen across the country, adding the first day of the Muslim fasting month will fall on Sunday, a day after the ninth month of the Islamic Hijri calendar begins in Saudi Arabia.
Ramadan is observed by Muslims worldwide through fasting from dawn to sunset, with most practicing Muslims considering it a time of spiritual reflection, self-discipline and devotion. Fasting serves as a means of strengthening faith and developing empathy for the less fortunate.
The month holds special significance as it was during one of its nights that the first verses of the Holy Qur’an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), in what is considered its most sacred night. Muslims mark Ramadan with increased prayer, charity and community gatherings, culminating in the festival of Eid Al-Fitr.
“There has been no reported sighting of the Ramadan moon,” Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, chairman of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, said while speaking to the media in northwestern Peshawar city. “The first day of the holy month of Ramadan will be on Sunday, March 2, 2025.”

Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, Chairman of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Pakistan’s moon sighting committee, along with others members use a telescope to look for the new moon that will mark the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar on February 28, 2025. (REUTERS)

Pakistan’s national space agency had already predicted the Ramadan moon would be invisible to the human eye in Pakistan on February 28, explaining the crescent would be difficult to sight due to its low altitude and distance.
It had also said people in the South Asian country were likely to mark the beginning of the holy month from March 2.
In Pakistan, however, the moon sighting committee is tasked with determining the start of new Islamic months.
The dates for Ramadan and Eid festivals are confirmed through visual observations and testimonies from different parts of the country reporting the crescent’s sighting.


Islamabad says eight Pakistanis deported from United States

Updated 28 February 2025
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Islamabad says eight Pakistanis deported from United States

  • Diplomat confirms this is the first such flight since President Trump returned to power
  • White House says the US president plans to carry out a mass deportation operation

ISLAMABAD: Eight Pakistan nationals residing illegally in the United States have been deported to Pakistan, Islamabad said Friday, with a diplomat calling it the first such flight since Donald Trump returned to power.
“We can confirm that eight Pakistani nationals, who were staying illegally in the US, have indeed returned yesterday,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan told a press conference.
A Pakistani diplomat confirmed that this was the first such flight since Trump’s second term began in January.
“But (it is) not the first ever as in 2019, several such flights also arrived in Pakistan,” the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States.
On his first day in office the Republican signed orders declaring a national emergency at the southern border with Mexico and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport “criminal aliens.”
The White House has also said Trump plans to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in US history.
In addition, Trump’s administration has halted an asylum program for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.


China’s BYD starts delivering vehicle in Pakistan, aim to roll out 100 units in 48 hours

Updated 28 February 2025
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China’s BYD starts delivering vehicle in Pakistan, aim to roll out 100 units in 48 hours

  • BYD partnered with Mega Motor Company last year to introduce electric vehicles in Pakistan
  • Both companies plan to establish 15 experience and care centers across Pakistan this year

KARACHI: China’s BYD, the world’s largest New Energy Vehicle (NEV) manufacturer, and Pakistan’s Mega Motor Company (MMC) started delivering vehicles in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad on Friday, with plans to roll out 100 units within the first 48 hours, confirmed their official statement.
The milestone comes after BYD and MMC partnered last year to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) in Pakistan, aiming to accelerate the country’s transition toward sustainable mobility.
BYD, a global leader in battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, has expanded aggressively in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Mega Motor, a subsidiary of Pakistan’s Hub Power Company (HUBCO), is spearheading the local manufacturing, distribution and sales of BYD-branded vehicles.
“It is an honor to embark on this crucial development chapter in Pakistan,” said Lei Jian, BYD country head in Pakistan.
“BYD has long been dedicated to fulfilling people’s aspirations for a better life through technological innovation,” he continued. “We firmly believe that BYD’s new energy vehicles and technologies are destined to make even greater contributions to Pakistan’s green development journey.”

This handout photo, released by China’s BYD auto company on February 28, 2025, shows BYD Experience and Care Centers in Islamabad. (BYD Pakistan/Handout)

The companies have launched BYD Experience and Care Centers in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, offering customers access to their advanced automobiles. 
he initial rollout includes models such as SEAL and ATTO 3, with plans to establish 15 centers across Pakistan this year to expand accessibility.
“We are thrilled to begin vehicle deliveries across Pakistan,” said Danish Khaliq, VP Sales and Strategy at MMC. “This marks the beginning of an exciting journey for BYD and our customers, as we introduce world-class NEV technology to drive Pakistan toward a cleaner and more sustainable future.”
NEVs refer to alternative-fuel vehicles that rely on electric, hybrid, hydrogen, or other non-traditional power sources instead of conventional gasoline or diesel engines.