Update on Pakistan relief efforts

Pearl Harbor Makes Second Relief Delivery to Pakistan

You may recall from my October 14 post that the USS Pearl Harbor was bringing heavy equipment to Pakistan. The USS Pearl Harbor has now made a second port call with supplies.

Karachi welcomed the return of USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52) Oct. 24 as it pulled into the port city for the second time this week, carrying 140 tons of relief supplies destined for the earthquake-devastated region of northern Pakistan.

The cargo of food, blankets, mattresses and other essentials, enough to fill the flight deck of the San Diego-based ship, was donated by Pakistanis living in United Arab Emirates and will go immediately to those most affected by the disaster.

More helicopters on the way to Pakistan

Six additional U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks will be added over the next three days to the 12 U.S. military helicopters already in the region supporting Pakistani led relief efforts. The additional helicopters join five U.S. Army Chinooks, three U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawks, two U.S. Navy MH-53 Sea Stallions, and two U.S. Navy MH-60 Knighthawks that have been supporting relief operations here since Oct. 11.

Pakistan Relief Effort to Top 1,000 U.S. Troops

More than 1,000 U.S. servicemembers will soon be assisting earthquake relief efforts in Pakistan, a senior U.S. officer told Pentagon reporters here today.

Navy Rear Adm. Michael A. LeFever, commander of the U.S. relief effort in Pakistan, said the number of American troops now providing humanitarian relief in Pakistan - about 560 - will be augmented in coming days by more medical personnel, helicopter aircrews, engineers and other personnel.

CentCom has a page devoted to the Pakistan relief efforts. It keeps statistics on the supplies brought in, and has links to news updates.

Joint Combat Camera Center has numerous photos of the relief efforts.

Here is another photo essay about bringing aid into Pakistan.

USAID has an update today on the situation in Pakistan.

According to the Government of Pakistan (GOP), 53,000 people are confirmed dead and more than 75,000 are injured. According to the Government of India (GOI), 1,308 people are confirmed dead and more than 6,600 injured.

On October 24, the GOP’s Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) announced that the condition of water in the earthquake-affected areas of Abbottabad and Mansehra in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) was satisfactory; however, the condition of the drinking water in Pakistani-administered Kashmir had deterioriated to unsatisfactory levels.

Fire Forward is the blog authored by a US soldier involved on the ground in the relief efforts. A post from yesterday is entitled Behind the Scenes of the Relief Effort. (HT: Mudville Gazette's terrific Dawn Patrol)

-----
US military relief efforts in Pakistan - Oct 13
More on the Pakistan relief efforts - Oct 14
Pakistan relief efforts continue - Oct 18
Making the Pakistan relief effort happen - Oct 20
More on directing the Pakistan relief efforts - Oct 23