NAROWAL, Pakistan (AP) — Rescuers in Pakistan raced to evacuate tens of thousands of people stranded by floods, with many left without food or medical supplies Friday as the government struggled to provide aid and prevent Lahore and other cities from deluges.
The floods in the eastern Punjab province began Monday when an abnormal amount of rain triggered sudden water releases from Indian dams on the Sutlej, Chenab and Ravi rivers. The rising floodwaters were the first to hit the region in four decades.
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A resident loads his belongings into a donkey-cart after retrieving them from his flooded home due to rising water level in Ravi River after torrential rains at a low-lying area on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Residents retrieve belongings from their flooded home due to rising water level in Ravi River after torrential rains at a low-lying area on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A villager wades through a flooded area after torrential rains on the outskirts of Sodhra town, in Wazirabad district, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/A. Rizvi)
A woman carries sack of food items as she walks back after getting it from a relief-camp set up by Pakistan army for flood victims on the outskirts of Sodhra town, in Wazirabad district, Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/A. Rizvi)
Villagers help a milkman crossing the flooded portion of a road damaged by floods after torrential rains on the outskirts of Sodhra town, in Wazirabad district, Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/A. Rizvi)
New Delhi last week alerted Islamabad about potential cross-border flooding. Since then, nearly 300,000 people have been evacuated from flood-hit areas, said Irfan Ali Kathia, director general of the Punjab Disaster Management Authority. More than 1 million have been affected.
Around 20 people have died in this week’s floods in Punjab, raising the nationwide death toll to 820 since flash floods in late June, Kathia said.
Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, visited flood-hit areas of Narowal district on Friday to review rescue and relief operations.
Nearly 1,100 relief and medical camps are operating in the province to provide temporary shelter and treatment, with more medical camps being set up in flood-hit areas, he added.
Floodwater inundated some villages near Lahore, raising fears in the city.
On Friday, authorities and the military made controlled breaches in protective embankments at several points along the overflowing Chenab River to reduce pressure and protect major cities, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. It said water levels in rivers remain dangerously high and warned that further rainfall could worsen flooding.
Authorities have struggled to respond to the floods. Many people said Friday they were still without any government help and urgently needed food and medical supplies.
An Associated Press reporter on Thursday saw village after village underwater. Floodwaters covered fields and streets and thousands of people sat along the roadsides. Many had fled their homes in haste, carrying little or no food.
“We are in great misery. Neither the government nor anyone else has come to inquire about us,” said Mohammad Saleem, a farmer in Narowal, sitting on a road surrounded by water with hundreds of other people.
Rana Hanan, a lecturer at Narowal University, said more than 100 houses in his community were destroyed. “When the water came, people saved themselves on their own,” he said.
In some areas, residents clung to rooftops awaiting rescue, while those who reached higher ground reported hunger, skin infections, and diarrhea.
Private charity Sahara Foundation has set up a medical camp in Kartarpur village to treat those suffering from illnesses caused by a lack of clean water and food.
Dr. Bilal Siddiq, a senior physician with Sahara Foundation, said 50 nearby villages remain submerged. “Fungal and skin infections are everywhere,” he said. “We’re also seeing rising cases of diarrhea, gastric pain, and malaria.”
Haji Amjad, 45, showed his infected feet as he sat outside his flooded home for a fourth day. “My whole-body itches, my stomach hurts, and there’s no medicine,” he said.
But even as water levels begin to recede in some areas, some residents say their problems are mounting. With fodder destroyed, livestock are falling sick without veterinary care.
Nargis Bibi, 45, broke down as she described how floods had ruined her grain stores. “The floods have destroyed everything. Only our lives remain,” she said.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif said in a statement Friday that damages to homes, crops, and livestock are being assessed and promised that all losses would be compensated.
She added that her priority is saving lives and delivering aid to displaced people, and urged residents in flood-hit areas to move to safer locations.
Reports of new possible flooding have sparked panic in Sindh where 2022 flooding killed hundreds of people, claiming a total of 1,739 lives across the country.
In Indian-controlled Kashmir, the floods have killed nearly 100 people, according to Indian officials.
The crisis in Pakistan’s Punjab province underscores the growing challenges of climate change, with the country ranked among the 10 most vulnerable.
Associated Press writer Asim Tanveer contributed to this story from Multan, Pakistan.
A resident loads his belongings into a donkey-cart after retrieving them from his flooded home due to rising water level in Ravi River after torrential rains at a low-lying area on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Residents retrieve belongings from their flooded home due to rising water level in Ravi River after torrential rains at a low-lying area on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A villager wades through a flooded area after torrential rains on the outskirts of Sodhra town, in Wazirabad district, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/A. Rizvi)
A woman carries sack of food items as she walks back after getting it from a relief-camp set up by Pakistan army for flood victims on the outskirts of Sodhra town, in Wazirabad district, Pakistan, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/A. Rizvi)
Villagers help a milkman crossing the flooded portion of a road damaged by floods after torrential rains on the outskirts of Sodhra town, in Wazirabad district, Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/A. Rizvi)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.
The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.
Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.
Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.
Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.
The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.
St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.
Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
