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NATO to Send Engineers, Medical Teams to Quake-Stricken Pakistan
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(http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=F77364:3919ACA

Move follows appeal by UN official Jan Egeland to NATO to think 'big
and bold' in considering response to world's most difficult relief
effort in Pakistani Kashmir





Kashmiris walk past the remains of shops destroyed by earthquakeNATO
is considering a plan to send one thousand troops, several helicopters
and hundreds of military engineers to earthquake-hit Pakistan, as well
as medical units to set up a field hospital.



The move follows an appeal to NATO by the top United Nations relief
coordinator, Jan Egeland, to think "big and bold" in its response to
the massive relief effort in Pakistani Kashmir. He said the world is
not doing what it can to save lives.

NATO military experts finalized the plan early Friday before asking
for approval from the North Atlantic Council.

The organization plan would deploy engineers and medics from the elite
NATO Response Force to clear roads blocked by the October eighth
earthquake and subsequent mudslides, and to set up field hospitals.

NATO has acknowledged that it is short of the light helicopters
urgently sought by Pakistan to reach remote areas. Up to two million
Pakistanis remain out in the open without any shelter.

Washington is expected to have 40 helicopters on the ground in coming
weeks.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says the death toll will go
beyond 50,000. Officials say some 74,000 people have been injured and
that some cases of tetanus have been reported, creating the need for
vaccination on a large scale.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.


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