Pakistan evacuates 100,000 in Sindh as flood threat increases

Authorities in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province have evacuated more than 100,000 people from low-lying areas along the Indus River after neighboring India warned of cross-border flooding from dam releases, officials said Friday.

The operation follows weeks of heavy monsoon rains and dam overflows in India that have displaced about 1.8 million people in Punjab since August. Nationwide, floods have killed more than 900 people since late June, according to Pakistan’s disaster agency.

The Indus is now rising as floodwaters move downstream, prompting Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon to confirm 109,320 people had been moved to safer ground. Sindh was among the worst-hit regions in the catastrophic 2022 floods that left more than 1,700 dead.

Thousands of rescuers backed by the military are still delivering aid in Punjab’s Muzaffargarh and Multan districts, where 3,900 villages have been inundated after the Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab rivers burst their banks two weeks ago.

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