ISLAMABAD, 24 October 2005 — A top US military official visited earthquake-hit areas of Pakistan and promised all possible help in providing relief and rehabilitation to the victims, sources said.

US Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid visited earthquake-hit capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir yesterday and promised more US military assistance in the relief effort.

“We’ve seen a lot of helicopters from a lot of different countries and we’ve been in the area and seen a lot of hard work by the Pakistani military,” he told reporters.

“I think the effort is coming together in an important way.”

Abizaid said two more US heavy-lift helicopters had arrived in the disaster zone yesterday, having been diverted from military operations in neighboring Afghanistan.

Another 13 were “coming forward” from Afghanistan, which would bring the total number of US choppers involved in the relief effort to 25, he said.

“So we’re bringing in as much as we can. I know that NATO forces will be coming and certainly we’re bringing more forces from the US, more helicopters,” he said.

Abizaid is also scheduled to meet Pakistani officials in Islamabad to discuss the relief effort ahead of a conference of aid donors in Geneva on Wednesday, where the United States is expected to push for a greater international response.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has already visited Islamabad to express Washington’s solidarity with Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led “war on terror”.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has called for more helicopters, winter tents, blankets, food and medicine for earthquake survivors, thousands of whom remain cut-off in the Kashmiri mountains.

“The scope of devastation is gigantic. The level of work which has to be done is very immense,” said Abizaid after a briefing with Pakistani military officers here.

“The international community needs to continue to help and you can count on the United States to continue to help as well.”

NATO on Friday approved plans to send up to 1,000 troops to Pakistan as part of a beefed-up package to help the country after the worst natural disaster in its history.

The earthquake killed more than 53,000 people, injured some 75,000 and left some 3.3 million homeless. Another 1,300 people died on the Indian side of Kashmir.

On Wednesday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned of a “second, massive wave of death” without an immediate and “exceptional” escalation of the global relief effort. — Additional input from AFP