A girl waits as men and boys line up for a food handout at the Sheikh Yasin refugee camp at Mardan, in northwest Pakistan, Monday, May 18, 2009. More than a million Pakistanis have fled fighting between the army and Taliban militants in the Swat Valley. (Greg Baker / AP)
ARLINGTON, Va. — Pakistan has requested relief supplies from the U.S. government to help thousands of Pakistanis displaced by fighting with the Taliban, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Monday.
The Pakistani government has sent the State Department a "modest request" for humanitarian assistance such as halal Meals Ready to Eat — which abide by Muslim tradition — along with water trucks and tents, Whitman said.
"We’re looking at providing at least assistance in those three categories and probably, potentially more," he said.
U.S. relief flights could begin as early as Wednesday or Thursday, a senior U.S. officer in theater said. The Pakistani military’s 1st Corps will oversee support of the relief effort, the senior officer said. The Corps’ commander was the deputy commander during earthquake relief efforts in 2005 and is highly respected.
Whitman declined to say how much U.S. aid might be going to Pakistan. He said the State Department had yet to decide which agencies would carry out the effort. However, the Defense Department has already begun pre-positioning and packaging of relief supplies, Whitman said.
"As you know, when it comes to delivering these type of things, the capacity for that lies largely in the military for the initial efforts," Whitman said.
In October 2005, U.S. troops delivered relief supplies and provided medical support to victims of a Pakistani earthquake.
The troops included a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital from U.S. European Command and another hospital from III Marine Expeditionary Force on Okinawa.
The current effort became necessary after a truce between the Pakistani government and Islamic militants in the Swat Valley broke down and thousands of civilians were forced to flee their homes. The Pakistani military has launched an offensive in northwest Pakistan to combat the Taliban.
The number of "Internally Displaced Persons in Pakistan" has risen from 556,000 to more than 2 million this month, according to the State Department.
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad has already announced the U.S. government will provide $28 million in wheat, vegetable oil and other aid to the Pakistanis.
