NATO faces challenging quake relief task
By Asim Hussain

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Saturday accepted the NATO offer for additional humanitarian relief assistance and deployment of NATO forces in a humanitarian relief assistance role.
Pakistan, however has informed NATO that the deployment will be in consultation with Pakistan and will be mainly for reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure such as shelter, hospitals, roads, bridges, schools and the provision of medical care as well as for aerial movement of supplies and those requiring urgent medical attention.
Pakistan has proposed immediate discussion with NATO to work out the details of the humanitarian relief operations.
According to Foreign Office statement the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), after its North Atlantic Council’s meeting made a formal offer to Pakistan.
The NATO force will consist of a reinforced engineering battalion of some 1,000 personnel which will be self sustaining and fully equipped for the required work, lift helicopter assets beginning with 4 in number and expected to increased according to the urgent need, a medical field hospital with its attendant medical staff and supplies, and a logistic team for facilitating unloading/loading of NATO planes.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Saturday said it was flying in mobile headquarters and a battalion of light engineers by next week to clear roads to reach inaccessible areas, still blocked by the Oct 8 earthquake.
“Time is of essence” and NATO is trying to rush in more supplies and open up roads, before the winter sets in, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Maurits Jochems told reporters.
NATO said it would send around 600 of its engineers drawn from Spain, Poland and Italy by next week along with road clearing equipment.
He said the strategic airlift operation of relief supplies to Pakistan was “something unprecedented” in NATO’s history and was part of international effort to help the country deal with the disaster.
He said the deployable headquarters, to be manned by 50 staff, would liaise with the Pakistani authorities and UN for logistic operations and movement of helicopters.
“NATO will start its second air bridge operation and lift 10,000 tents from UNHCR ware house to Islamabad,” he said and offered that Pakistan may also use its sea-lift capability for bulky items.
Jochems said the relief supplies are being brought in the country on the request of the government of Pakistan and the UN and this was the first time that NATO was providing humanitarian assistance to a country outside the 26 country military alliance.
Besides, he said, NATO is also sending in a mobile, multinational medical unit to supplement the UN hospitals besides three water purification plants.
About Pakistan’s request for more helicopter Brigadier General Antonius Stik, Chief of the NATO Operational Liaison Team in Pakistan said, around 40 belonging to the United States and Germany were already operating in the affected areas.
He said six more would come, but added it was important to ensure that the sorties are organised in a clear and safe manner.
Stik said though the air space was not saturated yet, but at any given time only a certain number of helicopters can be in a particular area.
He said they could use the heavy-lift helicopters to move earth moving equipment on roads closed due to landsliding and start clearing from either end.
Jochems said NATO’s airlift was bringing in over one thousand tons of relief supplies to Pakistan , provided by UNHCR, NATO nations and other countries.
The airlift began last week, and is well underway, using NATO 707s, an Antonov carrying a UNHCR base camp, and C-130 transport aircraft from Incirlik, which have moved 75 tons already, with more constantly on the way; 2 C-130 flights are expected on Saturday. 12 C-17 flights are to begin soon from the two NATO airfields in Germany and Turkey.
When asked about the priorities he said, Pakistan has clearly said “we need tents, tents and tents”.
He said it was up to Pakistan to decide what it requires and how it is delivered. He said it was up to the UNHCR to distribute the tents and blankets that were being brought in by NATO.
He said he had meetings with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Chairman Federal Relief Commissioner General Farooq, and Chairman Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority General Zubair to assess the requirements.
Brigadier General Antonius Stik said the NATO has huge capacity of airlifting but was only allowed four slots at the Islamabad airport as there was too much air movement.
He said he was discussing with the Pakistani authorities possibility of using the airfields at Peshawar and Lahore or some other option for swifter delivery of relief goods.