Northwest Pakistan and neighboring provinces in Afghanistan have been hit by the worst flooding they have seen in decades. More than 1,000 people have died in the flooding and many others are homeless as torrential monsoon rains have displaced over a million people.
medical supplies clean drinking water to local authorities.
The Washington Times reported that charities designated as terrorist organizations are are competing with relief efforts to win the hearts of those in need.
"Charities affiliated with militant groups, especially LeT [Lashkar-e-Taiba], have always exploited such crises, and this one is no different," a humanitarian aid worker in Pakistan said on the condition of anonymity, citing security concerns.
The magnitude of the disaster is more than Islamist charities affiliated with the Taliban could handle, but they can be exaggertated for public relations' purposes. However, they are dwarfed by the number of other local and international relief efforts, including $25 million from USAID.
Across the border, in Northeast Afghanistan, the Taliban took credit for robbing, shooting and killing 10 members of a medical team that had completed medical and eye-care work in Nuristan. The Taliban had claimed the group was carrying Bibles, but a spokesman for the International Assistance Mission said that medical staff do not carry Bibles.