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ISLAMABAD (BNO NEWS) – Two U.S. Navy MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopters arrived in Pakistan on Saturday as part of the continued U.S. humanitarian operation in the country to support flood relief efforts that resulted from heavy monsoon rains, the U.S. State Department announced.

The two helicopters are part of a group of 19 that have been urgently ordered to Pakistan on Wednesday by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates as part of relief operations in the region. The incoming aircraft arrived in Pakistan on Saturday on-board the USS Peleliu, positioned in international waters in the Arabian Sea. They will join four U.S. Marine Corp helicopters and one other MH-53E that arrived in the region earlier this week at Ghazi Air Base, bringing the total number of U.S. Aircraft in Pakistan from the USS Peleliu to seven.

The remaining aircraft will be dispersed in the country over the next few days, including twelve U.S. Marine Corp CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. They will operate in cooperation with the Pakistani military through the country’s worst affected areas. Since August 5, U.S. military helicopters have directly rescued over 3,500 people and transported over 412,000 pounds of emergency relief supplies.

The flooding began in July 2010 after record heavy monsoon rains, killing over 1,600 people and displacing over 500,000 Pakistanis from their homes. The amount of people suffering due to the massive flooding exceeds 13.8 million, more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

The rains are expected to continue at least another month, possibly drastically raising the death toll. Officials have warned that the death toll could also rise due to the fact that a number of towns are not accessible and communications have been disrupted.

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