“Up to 3.5 million children are at high risk of deadly water-borne diseases, such as watery diarrhoea and dysentery,” Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

“What concerns us the most is water and health. Clean water is essential to prevent deadly water-borne diseases. Water during the flood has been contaminated badly,” he added.

The World Health Organization was also preparing to assist tens of thousands of people in case of cholera, although the government has not notified the UN of any confirmed cases, he added.

He estimated the number at risk from such diseases was six million.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told the BBC that he feared the growing desperation of flood victims could play into the hands of extremists.

But he said troops fighting insurgents in the north had not been redeployed to help the relief effort.

“We have moved additional troops to southern parts of Punjab and the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. We are not going to permit militants to take advantage of this situation,” he said.

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