UN chief offers Pakistan, India assistance after floods kill hundreds in less than week
Monsoon brings South Asia up to 80 percent of annual rainfall, but increasingly erratic weather patterns are turning the rains into a destructive force
Authorities in Pakistan have forecast more monsoon spells and warned of a possible repeat of the catastrophic 2022 floods, which killed nearly 1,700 people
ISLAMABAD: United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday expressed sorrow over the loss of hundreds of lives in Pakistan and India in deadly rains and floods since last week, offering UN assistance to the South Asian country.
In Pakistan, the deluges, triggered by cloudburst, have left behind a trail of destruction, particularly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province where more than 350 people have been killed since Aug. 15, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
The monsoon rains, which began on June 26, have so far claimed 707 lives across the South Asian country, one of the most climate-affected nations that has witnessed erratic weather events with increasing intensity in recent years.
In a post on X, Guterres said he felt “deep sorrow” for the lives lost due to the recent flash floods.
“I extend my sincere condolences to the victims’ families and stand in solidarity with those affected by this disaster,” he wrote. “The UN stands ready to provide any necessary assistance.”
Flooding has also hit India-administered Kashmir, where at least 67 people were killed and dozens remain missing after flash floods swept through the region last week.
Monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, arriving in early June in India and late June in Pakistan, and lasting through until September.
The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. But increasingly erratic and extreme weather patterns are turning the rains into a destructive force.
Authorities in Pakistan have warned of a possible repeat of the catastrophic 2022 floods, which killed nearly 1,700 people and displaced millions of others.
“We are going through the seventh spell of monsoon of 2025,” NDMA chief Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik told reporters in Islamabad this week.
“The predictions that we made about the monsoon from June to September, there will be at least 9 to 10 spells, which will impact different areas of Pakistan.”
KARACHI: Pakistan experienced a dramatic collapse in Internet access on Tuesday, with connectivity falling to just 20% of normal levels, according to NetBlocks, a global observatory for Internet governance.
This follows a pattern of frequent Internet throttling and service outages in Pakistan, which human rights observers and digital-rights activists have long decried as tools for censorship and political control. Authorities deny this.
“Metrics show a major disruption to Internet connectivity across #Pakistan with high impact to backbone operator PTCL; overall national connectivity is down to 20 percent of ordinary levels.” NetBlocks said in a post on X.
At the time of the filing of this report, state telecom authorities, including PTCL and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, had not responded publicly to the latest outage, even as millions of users remain offline.
There are approximately 116 million Internet users in Pakistan, according to DataReportal’s Digital 2025 report. This figure represents about 45.7 percent of the total population.
Internet shutdowns significantly impact Pakistan’s economy, causing substantial financial losses and hindering economic growth. In 2024, Pakistan experienced the highest economic losses globally due to Internet disruptions, totaling $1.62 billion.
In a separate statement, the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP) condemned the recurring breakdowns, calling them a “national failure.”
Its chairman, Shahzad Arshad, said the situation reflected years of neglect and overdependence on a few backbone providers.
“Internet outages are no longer rare accidents in Pakistan — they’ve become a recurring reality. For two-thirds of the country to go dark in 2025, on the very date we saw the same collapse in 2022, should ring alarm bells at every level of government,” Arshad said. “We cannot build a digital economy on a foundation this fragile.”
Arshad stressed that a reliable Internet is now as essential as electricity.
“Freelancers, students, hospitals, banks — all depend on uninterrupted connectivity. Every hour offline costs Pakistan millions and damages our reputation internationally.”
Internet disruptions, whether total shutdowns or selective throttling, have become increasingly common in Pakistan, especially during times of political unrest or protests.
The latest disruption comes months after Pakistan confirmed the installation of a national Internet firewall, a centralized filtering system designed to monitor, restrict and control online content. Officials have framed the firewall as a tool for cybersecurity and “harmful content” moderation, but digital rights groups warn it enables large-scale censorship and surveillance of political speech.
Pakistan has also blocked access to major platforms in the recent past. Social media site X (formerly Twitter) remained banned from February 2024, days after a general election, until May 2025, after opposition parties accused authorities of rigging the polls and used the platform to amplify their allegations. The ban was lifted in May this year.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top economic body on Tuesday approved a relief package worth Rs5.8 billion ($20.8 million) to support people affected by recent rains and flash floods in the country’s northwest, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
The announcement comes as nearly 400 people have been killed during the latest spell of monsoon rains in northern Pakistan that began late last week. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported that of the 400 deaths since Friday, 356 were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has been lashed by cloudbursts, flash floods, lightning strikes and landslides in the deadliest downpour of this year’s monsoon season.
In total, 707 Pakistanis have died in monsoon rains since June 26, according to the NDMA.
“Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet has approved a relief package worth 5.8 billion rupees as federal assistance for the rain and flood affected people,” Radio Pakistan said in a report after a meeting of the ECC was held in Islamabad with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in the chair.
“The ECC directed the Finance Division to immediately release 4 billion rupees of the approved package to mitigate the sufferings of affected people.”
Earlier in the day, while addressing a joint news conference on Tuesday, Pakistan’s army and government spokesmen and the chief of the NDMA said coordinated relief and rescue operations had been stepped up in affected parts of KP and the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region.
“Currently, there are eight units of the infantry and eight units of the FC [frontier constabulary] directly involved in search and rescue and flood relief operations,” Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, told reporters in Islamabad.
“In the search and rescue work, 6,903 of children and adults have been rescued by the army units,” the army spokesman said, adding that over 6,300 people had also received medical treatment.
Chaudhry said logistics bases had been set up in Kanju and Daggar to supply food, tents and medicines, while helicopters were flying emergency aid to remote areas.
Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said 70 percent of the region’s power supply had also been restored, including in districts like Buner, Shangla, Swat and Bajaur, where electrical grids, poles and transformers were destroyed.
He said ministers for energy, communications and Kashmir affairs were deployed in the field to monitor relief operations.
“In Malakand division, the N-90 highway has been fully reopened after clearing all blockades,” Tarar added.
More than 1,200 tents, 3,000 kilograms of medicines and 40 tons of food rations have been dispatched to the flood-hit regions, with over 500 medical camps operational in the area.
Volunteers walks with umbrellas to avoid rain as they survey the damaged areas, following a storm that caused heavy rains and flooding in Bayshonai Kalay, in Buner district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on August 18, 2025. (REUTERS)
Chairman of the NDMA, Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik, who also addressed the news conference, said at least 25,000 people had been rescued in total in the last four days.
He warned of continued risks from localized flooding and cloudbursts in KP, GB, and northern Punjab, with a new monsoon spell expected in the last week of August.
“A complete survey has been launched, which has been started to assess the damage of houses and public infrastructure,” Malik said, adding that its findings would be ready by early September.
Malik said more than 50 percent of landslides had been cleared and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had approved a special ration package for affected districts.
Aid convoys to Swabi, Buner, Malakand, Bajaur, Shangla and Swat were also underway, with support from military formations and non-governmental organizations
“All arms of the state are mobilized in this national response,” he added.
TRAVEL ADVISORY
Separately, the NDMA issued a travel advisory on Tuesday warning of road closures and damage in the country’s north due to floods and landslides.
According to the advisory, tourists have been told to avoid travel on vulnerable stretches of the Karakoram Highway and connecting routes, including Torghar, Batagram, Shangla, Lower Kohistan, Tattapani, Gilgit and Hunza.
Road blockages due to floods and landslides were reported at several points on the Karakoram Highway, as well as at multiple locations along the Mingora–Swat road.
The NDMA also listed a number of damaged or closed bridges and roads in Gilgit-Baltistan, Skardu, Ghizer, Hunza and Astore.
Men retrieve a motorbike from a thick layer of mud, following a storm that caused heavy rains and flooding in Pacha Kalay Bazar, in Buner district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on August 18, 2025. (REUTERS)
“Surmo Bridge, Ghanche: damaged; no alternate … Baghecha, Skardu: damaged; alternate: temporary causeway but unsafe,” the advisory said.
It added that the Astak Bridge on the Jaglot–Skardu road was partially open, while major routes such as Shandur, Ishkoman, Gulmit in Gojal, Hoper in Nagar, and the Skardu–Kargil road in Kharmang district were closed with no alternate routes available.
The advisory urged travelers to check updates regularly and avoid unnecessary movement in the affected areas until roads are cleared and safe for traffic.
PUNJAB ALERT
The Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on Tuesday also issued a fresh alert for heavy monsoon rains across much of the province from Aug. 19–22.
“Severe thunderstorms are forecast in most districts, including Rawalpindi, Murree, Galiyat, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Gujranwala, Lahore, Gujrat and Sialkot,” the PDMA spokesperson said, adding that downpours were also expected in Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan and Rajanpur.
PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia said all commissioners and deputy commissioners had been directed to remain on alert in line with instructions from Punjab’s chief minister. He warned of rising water levels in rivers and streams, flash flooding in hill torrents, and the risk of urban flooding in major cities.
In this aerial picture, volunteers remove debris from a resident's home, after flash floods hit Buner district in northern Pakistan's mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on August 18, 2025. (AFP)
“Citizens are urged to adopt precautionary measures during bad weather,” Kathia said. “Stay in safe places during storms, avoid unnecessary travel, and keep children away from low-lying areas and electricity poles and wires.”
The DG added that health, irrigation, communications, local government and livestock departments had all been placed on high alert. In case of emergency, people were advised to call the PDMA helpline at 1129.
KARACHI: Authorities in Pakistan’s Sindh province have imposed an emergency in Karachi, the country’s largest city and commercial capital, after flash floods triggered by heavy rain inundated vast swathes of the metropolis, killing at least seven people in separate incidents.
The downpour on Tuesday brought life to a standstill as several thoroughfares in the city of over 20 million were deluged by floodwaters. Rainwater entered homes in low-lying areas of the city, triggering power outages.
Local authorities advised people to avoid commuting as many returning from work and schools were stranded, with vehicles strewn along roads forcing many to navigate to safety in waist-deep water.
“The Mayor Karachi hereby declared Rain Emergency within the city of Karachi,” the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), which oversees administrative affairs of the city, said in a notification.
“The municipal services, fire brigade and USAR (urban search and rescue) departments, KMC are directed to establish Rain Emergency Cell and coordinate with all Essential Services Departments.”
Separately, the provincial education department announced that all schools and colleges in Karachi will remain closed on Wednesday on account of the situation.
Hassaan Khan, a spokesperson for Sindh Rescue 1122 service, said their teams were working tirelessly across the city to respond to rain-related emergencies.
“Unfortunately, seven people have lost their lives in separate rain-related incidents, four in Gulistan-e-Jauhar after a house wall collapsed, one child in a wall collapse in Orangi and two by electrocution in North Karachi and Defense,” Khan told Arab News.
People wade through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Karachi on August 19, 2025. (AFP)
Karachi, a city of more than 20 million with a dilapidated infrastructure, has often seen even moderate rains trigger flooding in parts of the city, threatening lives of residents and causing hours-long power outages.
The downpour in Karachi occurred at a time when Pakistan is witnessing an intense monsoon season that has already ravaged several areas, particularly in the country’s north where cloudburst-triggered deluges have killed nearly 400 people since Aug. 15.
In total, 707 Pakistanis have perished in this year’s monsoon season that began on June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Two more spells of rains are expected in the country until mid-September, officials say.
The situation has raised fears of a repeat of the catastrophic 2022 floods that submerged a third of Pakistan and killed more than 1,700 people, besides causing $30 billion in economic losses.
ISLAMABAD: Azerbaijan has expressed a keen interest in learning the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) multi-domain air warfare to strengthen its defense capabilities, the Pakistani military said on Tuesday.
The statement came after a high-level Azerbaijan delegation, led by Deputy Minister and Director-General of Defense Agil Gurbanov, called on the PAF chief, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, at the Air Headquarters in Islamabad.
The visit follows a four-day Pakistan-India military standoff in May, during which officials said the PAF successfully conducted multi-domain operations to down six Indian fighter jets, including the French-made Rafale jets. While India has acknowledged losses in the air, it has not specified the number of aircraft lost.
During Tuesday’s meeting in Islamabad, both sides engaged in extensive discussions and underscored a shared commitment to fostering defense collaboration in training, modernization and technical expertise, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
Deputy Minister Gurbanov “conveyed Azerbaijan’s strong desire for collaboration across Multi-Domain Operations, noting that Pakistan Air Force’s rich operational experience provides a valuable model for Azerbaijan,” the ISPR said in a statement after the meeting.
“He added that his country is especially eager to learn PAF’s complete methodology of Multi Domain warfare to strengthen its own capabilities.”
The hour-long India-Pakistan fight, which took place in darkness, involved some 110 aircraft, experts estimate, making it the world’s largest air battle in decades.
Pakistan’s Chines-made J-10s shot down at least one Rafale, Reuters reported in May, citing US officials. Its downing surprised many in the military community and raised questions about the effectiveness of Western military hardware against untested Chinese alternatives.
Deputy Minister Gurbanov termed the PAF’s seamless integration of multi-domain operations a “hallmark of modern air warfare” and conveyed Azerbaijan’s “keen interest” in learning from PAF’s battle-proven experience. Underscoring the importance of joint training initiatives through bilateral exercises between the two air forces, the visiting dignitary emphasized that such cooperation would enhance shared learning, interoperability and professional excellence, according to the ISPR.
During the meeting, Air Chief Marshal Sidhu shared insight into the PAF’s various ongoing modernization projects, operational construct, force goals and plans for the force structure, with a focus on future warfare. He reiterated the PAF’s unwavering support to provide capacity-building assistance to the Azerbaijan Air Force in upgradation of its human resource, maintenance parameters and operational training.
“The dignitary reiterated Azerbaijan’s intent to revamp its entire training system, beginning from the academy level, and acknowledged Pakistan Air Force as a trusted partner in guiding this transformation,” the ISPR said.
“He expressed confidence that cooperation with PAF would significantly contribute to the modernization and professional growth of Azerbaijan Air Force.”
Pakistan and Azerbaijan maintain close brotherly, trade and defense ties. In July 2024, Azerbaijan announced a $2 billion investment in Pakistan during a visit by President Ilham Aliyev to Islamabad. In September last year, Pakistan signed a contract to supply JF-17 Block III fighter jets to Azerbaijan, marking the deepening of defense cooperation.
“The visit of the Azerbaijani defense delegation to Air Headquarters, Islamabad reflects the mutual commitment of Pakistan and Azerbaijan to further deepen their strategic partnership, while reinforcing the shared aspirations for regional peace, security and stability,” the ISPR added.
Why cloudbursts have killed hundreds in Pakistan and India this monsoon season
This monsoon season has so far seen at least four major deadly cloudbursts, including in Pakistan's Buner where more than 200 people died
Forecasting such events days in advance is nearly impossible, though radars can track build-up of dense clouds and give short-term warnings
Updated 19 August 2025
Reuters
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: Massive, sudden downpours of rain known as cloudbursts have struck Pakistan and India during this monsoon season, killing hundreds of people in the flash floods and landslides they have triggered.
WHAT ARE CLOUDBURSTS AND WHY DO THEY OCCUR?
By a widely accepted definition, a cloudburst means more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rainfall in one hour, over a small area.
This year, the monsoon, which originates in the Bay of Bengal and then sweeps westwards across northern India to Pakistan every summer, has brought deadly cloudbursts. Weather studies say cloudbursts typically occur in South Asia when warm, monsoon winds, laden with moisture, meet the cold mountain air in the north of India and Pakistan, causing condensation. With a warming planet, the monsoon has hotter air, which can carry more moisture.
India's weather department data shows cloudbursts are most common in the Himalayan regions of Indian Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Fahad Saeed, a senior climate scientist at Berlin-based Climate Analytics, said that in the mountains of northern Pakistan, the warm monsoon system coming from the east was meeting colder air coming from the west, from the subtropical jet stream - a high-altitude weather system that originates in the Mediterranean.
Global warming is pushing this jet stream further south in summer, he said, where it can now combine with the lower-level clouds of the monsoon in Pakistan, forming a tower of clouds which then generatesg intense rain. Similar intense rainfall, though triggered by different local factors, takes place around the world, such as the floods in Texas in July, when more than 300 mm of rain fell in less than an hour, sending a wall of water down the Guadalupe River.
WHY IS THE REGION BEING HIT SO BADLY BY CLOUDBURSTS?
This monsoon season has so far seen at least four major deadly cloudbursts, including in Uttarakhand, India, where video captured the moment when village buildings were swept down a mountain, and in Buner, in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan, where more than 200 people died after at least 150 mm of rain fell within an hour.
S D Sanap, a scientist with the India Meteorological Department's Pune office, said such cloudburst events were becoming more frequent in the western Himalayas, which run across India and into Pakistan, but pinning the rise on a single cause was not easy.
The cloudburst events on both sides of the border were triggered the same way: very moist monsoon air, upslope winds, and storms that stalled over valleys, said Moetasim Ashfaq, a weather expert based in the U.S.
If a cloudburst happens over flat land, the rainfall spreads over a wide area, so the impact is less severe, said Pradeep Dangol, a senior hydrology research associate at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, based in Nepal.
But in steep mountain valleys, the rain is concentrated into narrow streams and slopes, with the potential to trigger flash floods and landslides, he said.
CAN CLOUDBURSTS BE PREDICTED?
Forecasting such events days in advance is nearly impossible, though radars can track the build-up of dense cloud formations and give short-term warnings of intense downpours, Sanap said.
To strengthen monitoring, the India Meteorological Department has installed new radars across the Himalayas and set up observatories aimed at improving early warnings and understanding of these extreme weather events.
Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, who leads risk assessment at Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, part of the government, said that it was possible to warn about the general area but not possible to pinpoint the exact location in advance where a cloudburst will happen.
