"We condemn American and other foreign aid and believe that it will lead to subjugation. Our jihad against America will continue," a spokesman for the group, Azam Tariq, told AFP by telephone.

"The government should not accept American aid and if it happens, we can give 20 million dollars to them as aid for the flood victims," he said.

"We will ourselves distribute relief under leadership of our chief Hakimullah Mehsud among the people, if the government assures us that none of our members will be arrested."

The floods have been most devastating in the Taliban's stronghold in the northwest. Across Pakistan they have left six million people dependent on humanitarian help for their survival, the United Nations said.

The United States announced Tuesday it would increase its flood aid by another 20 million dollars to 55 million dollars, while the UN said it would launch an international appeal for several hundred million dollars.

The world body believes 1,600 people have died in the floods while the Pakistani government has confirmed 1,243 deaths.

US aid so far has included 436,000 halal meals and 12 pre-fabricated bridges, while the White House said that US helicopters had helped to save more than 1,000 lives in Pakistan.

But critics say that as the worst floods in living memory spread across Pakistan, the official relief effort has been woefully slow, and Islamic charities have been stepping into the breach.

Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Taliban faction is a key architect of extremist violence that has killed more than 3,570 people across Pakistan in three years.

However Daniel Feldman, a senior State Department official working on Afghanistan and Pakistan, on Tuesday dismissed reports of extremist groups providing aid to needy Pakistanis as "quite overblown".

Referring to US efforts to win public support in a country where anti-American feeling runs high, Ward said the US government tries to "brand as much as possible" of its aid.

"In this crisis, in the face of this disaster, we very much want the Pakistani people to know that the people of the United States are behind them, are helping," Ward said.

Beyond the northwest, about 1.5 million people have been evacuated in the south and a large swathe of fertile farmland has been destroyed in the central province of Punjab.

Parts of the northwestern Swat valley, where Pakistan fought a major campaign to flush out Taliban insurgents last year, were still cut off Tuesday by road, as were parts of the country's breadbasket in Punjab and Sindh.

But weather cleared Tuesday, allowing Pakistani, US and Afghan helicopters to distribute relief items and rescue people stranded in the northwest.

UN officials said aid would focus on six million people who need emergency help to survive, while 14 million in all are said by Pakistani authorities to be facing direct or indirect harm.

The UN has warned that children are among the most vulnerable victims, with diarrhoea the biggest health threat and measles a serious concern.

At the Ali Wahan relief camp about 20 kilometres (13 miles) east of Sukkur in Sindh province, there were barely a dozen flood survivors and a clinic with limited stocks of basic medicine.

"There are no facilities for families to live in this camp. My husband has gone to arrange some transport and we'll leave," said Mai Jannat, 35.

Doctor Nazir Ahmed at the camp said patients were suffering from gastroenteritis, stomach and eye diseases.

President Asif Ali Zardari is now back home after courting massive criticism for not cutting short a visit to Britain and France, although it was unclear if he would visit flood-hit areas.

earlier related report
UN to launch appeal for Pakistan flood disaster
Sukkur, Pakistan (AFP) Aug 11, 2010 - The United Nations is launching an appeal to help 13.8 million people hit by floods that have devastated swathes of the country and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the disaster had eclipsed the scale of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti put together.

About 1.5 million people have been evacuated in the south and 1.5 million hectares of valuable farmland destroyed in central Punjab province, while the worst hit has been the northwest, already struggling with Taliban violence.

"We will soon issue an... appeal for several hundred million dollars to respond to immediate needs," UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced, stressing that medium- and long-term assistance "will be a major and protracted task."

UN special envoy Jean-Maurice Ripert said hundreds of millions of dollars would be needed to address the urgent humanitarian needs and billions for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure and livelihoods.

Just hours after the appeal was announced, the United States raised its pledge to the flood-hit region from 35 to 55 million dollars.

"What we're going to be doing with this additional money is, just as the flood is moving south, we are going to move south," said Mark Ward, acting director of the US Office of Foriegn Disaster Assistance.

Parts of the northwestern Swat valley, where Pakistan fought a major campaign to flush out Taliban insurgents last year, were still cut off Tuesday by road, as were parts of the country's breadbasket in Punjab and Sindh.

"This is a major disaster of enormous magnitude," said UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes, who is to launch the appeal in New York on Wednesday for what is likely to be one of the biggest UN relief efforts in history.

UN officials were at pains to stress that aid would focus on six million people who need direct humanitarian assistance to survive.

Spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said the figure of 14 million was a broader measure given by Pakistani authorities that included the direct and indirect impact, extending from the homeless to longer-term damage such as crop losses.

The United Nations has warned that children are among the most vulnerable with diarrhoea the biggest health threat and measles a serious concern.

The world body believes 1,600 people have died but the Pakistani government has confirmed 1,243 deaths. Both numbers are dwarfed by the 220,000 killed in the December 2004 tsunami in Asia.

Floods killed at least 11 people in the northern district of Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday, officials said.

International aid agency Oxfam said the floods were a "mega disaster" that required the world to mount a "mega response".

Weather cleared Tuesday, allowing Pakistani, US and Afghan helicopters to help distribute relief items and rescue people stranded in the northwest.

Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Taliban faction on Tuesday urged the government to reject American aid for people affected by the floods.

"The government should not accept American aid and if it happens, we can give 20 million dollars to them as aid for the flood victims," Azam Tariq, a spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), told AFP by telephone.

In the south, there are warnings in towns and cities for people to remain on alert, but water levels were beginning to drop at the Guddu barrage and the meteorological office has forecast only scattered rain for the next two days.

"For the last three nights I have not have a good sleep as the water level in the river is constantly increasing. I do not know whether it is safe here or not," shopkeeper Allah Rakhio told AFP in the city of Sukkur in Sindh.

Survivors have lashed out at authorities for failing to come to their rescue, piling pressure on Pakistan's cash-strapped administration straining to contain Taliban violence and an economic crisis.

At the Ali Wahan camp about 20 kilometres (13 miles) east of Sukkur, there were hardly a dozen flood survivors and a clinic with limited stocks of basic medicine, but no life-saving drugs.

"There are no facilities for families to live in this camp. My husband has gone to arrange some transport and we'll leave," said Mai Jannat, 35.

Doctor Nazir Ahmed at the camp said patients were suffering from gastroenteritis, stomach and eye diseases.

People have also been unwilling to abandon their livestock despite insistence from navy personnel to evacuate.

President Asif Ali Zardari, who courted massive criticism for not returning from Britain and France at a time of national disaster, was back home Tuesday, although it was not immediately clear if he would visit the affected areas.

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