ISLAMABAD, 10 September 2006 — Pakistan will send army engineers to Lebanon to help clear mines and unexploded ordnance left over from recent Israeli bombing, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said here yesterday.
Aziz told reporters that the decision to send the engineers was taken at the request of the Lebanese government, which was made during his visit to Beirut earlier this week.
He did not give the date of the deployment or the number of troops to be sent, but said the troops would go as soon as the logistical details were finalized with the Lebanese government. “The government has decided to send a contingent of Pakistan army personnel for the exclusive purpose of de-mining,” Aziz said.
A government spokeswoman said the size of the contingent would be decided in a day or two. Huge swathes of southern Lebanon was destroyed in a month-long military offensive by Israel following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants in July.
The United Nations has warned that thousands of Lebanese civilians are at risk from unexploded cluster bombs dropped by Israeli forces during the last three days of the war.
Up to 100,000 unexploded cluster bombs are thought to remain in south Lebanon, according to the UN humanitarian coordination office.
Pakistan has in the past contributed to several UN peacekeeping operations around the world but has not reached a decision on sending peacekeepers to Lebanon.
Aziz said after visiting the country and seeing the devastation caused by Israeli bombing, and after appeals for help from Lebanon, Pakistan would send troops to clear mines, cluster bombs and booby traps.
Floods Kill 10
At least 10 people have died due to flooding caused by torrential rains in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, officials said yesterday.
Turbulent floodwaters swept away a railway bridge about 80 northwest of the port city of Karachi. Army troops and helicopters had to be summoned to evacuate people to schools and other relief centers, said Mohammed Hussein, an official in Hyderabad.
