International aid pours in

The world's leading donor nations and international bodies rushed to provide aid to support relief efforts in Pakistan following a devastating earthquake, which has so far claimed the lives of over 20,000, left some 42,000 injured and made around four million homeless. Islamabad said it was overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster. The US government pledged US $50 million on Monday as an initial contribution for relief and reconstruction after the earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck northern Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir affected most by the disaster. In Indian-administered Kashmir, 865 people died from the earthquake. A C-17 US military aircraft containing blankets, winterised tents and other relief supplies was scheduled to arrive in Islamabad late on Monday. A second C-17 and two C-130s are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on Tuesday and other military relief missions will follow, a US State Department statement read. The World Bank has set aside an initial $20 million for recovery in Pakistan and committed the institution to further assistance as the needs became clearer, while the Asian Development Bank (ADB) offered $10 million in immediate funds for the worst affected areas of the country. Kuwait pledged $100 million to help the victims of the earthquake. Half of the sum will be sent immediately in the form of relief materials, the cabinet said in a statement on Monday after its weekly meeting. China has offered $6.2 million in aid and sent a 49-man rescue team and search dogs, AFP reported. Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden and quake-prone Turkey were among the countries that sent rescue workers, sniffer dogs, tents and equipment. Impoverished Afghanistan said it would send helicopters, medical teams and two mts of medicine. The UN is expected to issue a flash appeal shortly, set to include estimates of the costs of immediate relief operations and longer-term reconstruction and development needs of the earthquake-affected regions. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is appealing for an initial $20 million to provide emergency relief to children and families who survived the quake. The appeal by UNICEF came as its first trucks were rolling towards the northern Pakistan town of Mansehra, loaded with blankets, children’s clothing, water containers and plastic tarpaulins. Another convoy was en route from the southern city of Karachi with water purification equipment, nutritional food for children, soap, shelter supplies, and children’s boots and sweaters - all designed to help children in the wake of the disaster. According to UNICEF, almost one in every five people in the affected zone is a child under the age of five and nearly half are younger than 18. A quarter of the population lives under the poverty line. The Australian government pledged an extra $5 million to help quake-hit Pakistan, after an initial $500,000 in medical and relief assistance was announced on Sunday, local media reported. "We'll initially be providing an additional $5 million now to international aid agencies, the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and the United Nations organisations, to focus on the provision of basic shelter, food and potable water," Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters in Canberra on Monday. The European Union (EU) on Sunday earmarked an initial Euro 3.6 million (almost $4.5 million) in emergency aid. The funds are being made available to partner humanitarian organisations through the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO). Besides the EU emergency aid approved, several of the 25 EU member nations had already made direct promises of aid too. The UK government pledged around $1.8 million worth of assistance, including nine mt of relief supplies, the Associated Press (AP) reported, adding that the British government would also pay for further supplies donated to charities to be transported to the affected region. Britain has a large Pakistani community - almost 750,000 people of Pakistani origin live in the UK, or 1.3 percent of the population, according to the UK Office of National Statistics. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said they expected to raise more than £3 million ($5.4 million) over the next few weeks from collections at mosques, while the British charity Islamic Relief said it had allocated £2 ($3.6 million) for the disaster, according to a Reuters report. Meanwhile, Malaysia pledged to donate $1 million and a Malaysian contingent comprising rescue personnel, doctors and government officials left for Pakistan on Monday, Malaysia's national security council said in a statement. The team is expected to remain in Pakistan for about two weeks. Others countries, including the Netherlands, Japan, Russian, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and Saudi Arabia were dispatching help. Pakistan's long-time rival, India, offered assistance as well.