Reprieve from monsoon rains

In Indian-administered Kashmir, some 350 villages have been submerged since monsoon rain triggered flooding and mudslides last week. Authorities there say it's the worst flooding the area has seen in half a century.

Thousands of troops, police and other emergency workers used helicopters and boats across the state to rescue nearly 15,000 people.

"Thousands of people are still stranded and we have rescued several thousands," Rajesh Kumar, a police officer in the Jammu region, told the AFP news agency.

Large parts of Srinagar, the capital of mountainous Jammu and Kashmir, remain under water, and many of the city's 900,000 have been displaced. Authorities there said the extent of the damage could not yet be assessed.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi toured the region on Sunday and described the situation as a "national calamity," adding, "the government will extend all help needed."

Modi wrote to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to offer sympathy and help: "Our resources are at your disposal whenever you need them," he wrote.

Pakistan has reported at least 150 deaths so far.

Ahmed Kamal, spokesman for Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, told AP news agency on Sunday that "army helicopters and navy boats are rescuing people and taking them to safety from submerged villages in Punjab and affected areas of Kashmir."

He said nearly 300 villages had been affected in the Punjab region alone and that the crisis was becoming a "national emergency."

The monsoon season lasts from June until September and tends to cause great damage to crops and property.

sb/cmk (AP, dpa, AFP)