UN reports Pakistan children at risk

The United Nations is reporting that up to 3.5 million children are at high risk from deadly water-borne diseases in Pakistan following the country's floods.



Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the major concern is health and water.



He says the World Health Organisation (WHO) is now preparing to assist tens of thousands of people in case of cholera, although the government has not notified the UN of any confirmed cases.



He estimated the number at risk from such diseases was six million.



Meanwhile, in southern Pakistan, floods continue to cause havoc with water surging from the province of Sindh to neighbouring Balochistan.



Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said he fears the growing desperation of flood victims could play into the hands of extremists.



However, he said troops fighting insurgents in the north had not been redeployed to help the relief effort.