WASHINGTON: Pakistan is working with various international organisations to help internally displaced persons (IDPs) from North Waziristan and the United States stands ready to assist those efforts, State Department said.

At a regular news briefing, the department’s spokesperson also reiterated the US support for Pakistan’s efforts to increase internal stability.

“We do understand that the government of Pakistan is working with the appropriate international and donor organisations to ensure that assistance is in place for displaced people and their families,” said spokesperson Marie Harf.

The United States, she said, was closely monitoring the situation, in coordination with the humanitarian community and was a major contributor to such organisations. “We stand ready to assist the IDPs in any way we can.”

But she once again stressed that there’s no US involvement in the military offensive. “It’s entirely a Pakistani-led and -executed operation,” she said. “We’ve long supported Pakistani efforts to extend their writ of government throughout their country and to increase internal stability.” Asked if the United States was concerned about political and economic instability in that country, Ms Harf said the US was working with the government of Pakistan both on security and economic fronts with a particular focus on energy issues.

“We know that Pakistan has challenges, but are also committed to working with them,” she said.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2014