Pakistan fighting sparks $110M in Washington aid

As the humanitarian crisis in the Swat region of Pakistan worsens, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that the U.S. will contribute $110 million in humanitarian aid to the country.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, announcing the aid at the White House, said she thinks the crisis is manageable “if the international community steps up and provides the support that is needed.”

{mosads}”President Obama is determined to match our words with our actions,” Clinton said.

The amount comes on top of $60 million the U.S. has given to Pakistan since last August.

An estimated 1.5 million Pakistanis have fled the Swat region since the Pakistani government launched an offensive against Taliban forces. The government had earlier inked a truce with the Taliban that would allow the militants to implement Sharia law in the area, a deal that had drawn criticism from both inside and outside the country as both the House and Senate were set to consider aid packages that would deliver $7.5 billion to Pakistan over five years to fight extremists including the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Clinton said that easing the humanitarian crisis is “essential to global security and the security of the United States, and we are prepared to do more as the situation demands.”

Pakistan has set up 22 refugee camps so far in an attempt to accomodate the influx of people fleeing the crossfire.