Militants ‘using flood aid’ to gain Pakistan support

Militant groups in Pakistan are going head-to-head with the US government in a battle to help more than a million people caught up in the worst floods in 80 years.

The Obama administration is trying to dampen anti-American sentiment in the region by pledging millions in emergency efforts but Islamic extremists have their own agenda, offering help in exchange for support.

The battle to win the hearts and minds of Pakistanis caught in the disaster came after 1,100 people died and 27,000 were still stranded in the poverty-stricken north-west area of the country.

The US has provided rescue boats, water filtration units and prefabricated steel bridges and has dropped thousands of food parcels by air.

It provided similar assistance after an earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 that killed nearly 80,000 people. The aid briefly increased support for the US.

Representatives from a charity allegedly linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group have distributed food and offered medical services to victims in the town of Charsada.

"We are reaching people at their doorsteps and in the streets, especially women and children who are stuck in their homes," said an activist with the Falah-e-Insaniat charity, who would identify himself only as Saqib.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has been blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166. The US says the group has stepped up activity in Afghanistan as well.

The extremist groups are also trying to exploit anti-government feeling after thousands attacked official rescue efforts as slow and inadequate.

"We need tents. Just look around," said Faisal Islam, sitting in Nowshera district on the only dry ground he could find.

The Pakistani army says it has committed 30,000 troops and dozens of helicopters but winching individuals to safety is a slow process.

In one area of the north-western region, 29 bridges have been destroyed, turning some communities into islands. Almost 700 people have drowned in the Peshawar valley.

In Swat and Shangl, where more than 400 have died, residents have been recovering from a major battle between Taliban militants and the army last spring that caused major destruction and drove nearly two million people from their homes.