Islamabad/Buner, August 17, 2025: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has deployed federal ministers to supervise relief efforts in flood-ravaged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), after devastating rains and flash floods claimed 323 lives and left 156 injured between August 15 and 17, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).
Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Engineer Amir Muqam, has been tasked with monitoring operations in Shangla and Buner, while the Power Division minister will oversee activities in Buner. Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yousaf has been assigned to Mansehra, and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Mubarak Zeb will coordinate relief in Bajaur.
The Prime Minister also directed the dispatch of additional consignments of food, tents, and medicines to the worst-hit areas under the federal relief package. “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is personally monitoring NDMA-led operations in all flood-affected districts,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
According to PDMA figures, Buner emerged as the worst-hit district with 209 fatalities, followed by Shangla (36), Mansehra (24), Bajaur (21), Swat (16), Battagram (3), and Lower Dir (5). No deaths were reported from Torghar and Upper Dir.
The floods also caused extensive damage to infrastructure: 159 houses were destroyed or damaged, along with 57 schools and 22 public facilities. Livestock losses stood at 157 cattle, officials said.
Rescue officials said operations remain extremely difficult due to washed-out roads, landslides, and blocked access routes. “Heavy rainfall, landslides and washed-out roads are severely hampering rescue efforts, particularly the transportation of heavy machinery and ambulances,” said Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for K-P’s rescue agency.
Local officials said nearly 2,000 rescue workers are on the ground, but many survivors remain trapped in remote villages. “Many more people may still be trapped under the debris, which residents cannot clear manually,” Buner Deputy Commissioner Kashif Qayum Khan told AFP.
NDMA Chairman Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik said relief consignments — including rations, tents, and medicines — are being immediately dispatched to affected districts. He added that day-to-day infrastructure repair, including roads and bridges, would be prioritized once the monsoon subsides.
Malik warned that the seventh spell of monsoon rains is forecast to continue until August 22, with another weather system expected to enter Pakistan on August 23 and persist through early September.
Officials said northeastern Pakistan, the Salt Range, southern Punjab, Malakand and Hazara divisions of K-P, and central Balochistan remain highly vulnerable, as three major weather systems converge over the country.
