WASHINGTON: The United States is conducting a military aid mission to flood-devastated Pakistan, the US armed forces’ Central Command said Friday.

“CENTCOM is sending an assessment team to Islamabad to determine what potential support DoD (the US Department of Defense) can provide... as part of the United States’ assistance to the flooding crisis in Pakistan,” spokesman Colonel Joe Buccino said in a statement.

The decision followed a phone conversation on Thursday between CENTCOM commander General Erik Kurilla and Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, the spokesman said.

The US is the top arms supplier to Pakistan’s military, but relations between the two countries are often rocky.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2022