Marines help Pakistan's flood relief work

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. Marines have begun arriving in Pakistan to assist in relief efforts in flooded areas of the country, Pakistani officials said.

The United States pledged to provide $71 million in emergency assistance to Pakistan and has sent military personnel to assist in the disaster, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The USS Peleliu arrived off the coast near Karachi Thursday, along with helicopters and about 1,000 Marines, Pakistani officials said. The helicopters will fly to flood-ravaged areas to rescue stranded people and deliver humanitarian aid.

Flooding triggered by monsoon rains have affected about 25 percent of the country, although not all areas are under water, U.N. spokesman Maurizio Giuliano. An estimated 1,600 people have died.

"All I say is that we need more help from our international friends," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said. "We need more such helicopters because the magnitude of the destruction was far more" than earlier government assessments. "I also urge my own countrymen and women to help their brothers and sisters," he said.

The Pakistani government has been criticized for a slow and patchy response to the floods, media reports indicated. President Asif Ali Zardari made his first visit to flood victims Thursday after being roundly condemned for taking a trip to Europe when the disaster began, The Daily Telegraph said.