The United Nations says the flooding in Pakistan has displaced an additional one million people in the last two days. The warning comes as hundreds of thousands of people are being evacuated from the southern city of Thatta. At the United Nations, Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said the flooding has significantly affected over 17 million people.

Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes: “The extent of the flooding continues to spread, particularly in the southern tip of the Sindh province as the floodwaters get down right to the south of Pakistan and begin, we hope, to escape finally into the sea. But this means, as I said, that more people being affected as the flooding continues to spread even if it begins, we hope, some of the water start to recede further north. What that means is that the numbers affected have continued to rise steadily. Our latest estimate is that 17.2 million people have been significantly affected.”

The UN says some eight million people are in need of emergency aid. Aid officials meanwhile are warning they’re coming under threat from Taliban and other militant groups. In Washington, State Department spokesperson P.J. Crowley said the US is monitoring the threats.

P.J. Crowley: “We are concerned that extremist elements within Pakistan including the TTP may well decide to attack foreigners who are in Pakistan, helping the people in Pakistan, or may choose at this time to attack government institutions in Pakistan that are responding on behalf of the Pakistani people. I think that just underscores the bankrupt vision that these extremists have, and we are conscious of that threat. We are working with the government of Pakistan to deal with that threat, but it is something that we are watching very carefully.”