05 August 2010

afghanistan outrage at civilian deaths by u.s. airstrikes; pakistan flooding

afghanistan people and government are outraged by civilian deaths in u.s./nato airstrikes.

afghans demand that nato and the united states to leave their country as soon as possible.

analysts believe that civilian casualties help the taliban's recruiting drives. this as many of the people who lost their loved ones in u.s. attacks join the militants and this results in more nato casualties.

the taliban claim that they have shot down a nato (canadian) helicopter in southern kandahar province killing all onboard.

nato, however, says that the helicopter has only made an emergency landing due to technical issues. nato says only one soldier has been injured in the incident.

in pakistan, floodwater's are spreading to the central and southern areas of the country and more than 1,500 people have lost their lives in the worst floods in nearly a century.

waterborne diseases such as cholera are rapidly spreading among the survivors.

press tv correspondent, javed fana, live in islamabad reports that the flooding is now heading fast towards pakistan's southern province of sindh.

in the northern province of punjab the biggest losses is the crops. 1.3 million hectares [3,212,370 acres] of crops are now underwater.

this will affect pakistan's economy because this is its agriculture hardland.

if the flood continues, pakistans import and export are going to be affected.

major crops produced in pakistans punjab and sindh provinces include: cotton, rice and sugarcane.

the flooding, besides affecting pakistans economy - food shortages within the country are also feared.

the american and pakistani governments are afraid that the taliban could come in and help the flood affected.

the american aid, while being, as always, politically motivated, has so far been extremely helpful to the pakistani government.

the pakistani people are also hugely disappointed in their president asif ali zardari, due to his "joy ride" visit in europe while the catastrophe plays out at home.

aired from 1600 GMT/UTC thursday 05 august 2010
2030 tehran time
11:00 am CDT