Half a million people flee their homes in Pakistan’s Punjab to escape flooding

MUZAFFARGARH, Pakistan (AP) — Rivers are swelling to dangerous levels in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, forcing more than half a million people to flee their homes in the past 24 hours, officials said Thursday.

The latest evacuations bring the total number of people displaced since last month to 1.8 million, according to Punjab Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javed. He said mass evacuations were still ongoing in the flood-hit Muzaffargarh district and other areas.

Muzaffargarh and Multan are among the worst-hit areas in the province, where floods have inundated 3,900 villages since the Ravi, Sutlej, and Chenab rivers burst their banks two weeks ago, Javed said.

People who fled their homes in Muzaffargarh described rushing to safety after urgent flood warnings.

Ghulam Abbas, 54, who fled his village with his family, said Thursday that mosque loudspeakers announced a massive flood surge was on its way, urging everyone to leave as soon as possible.

“Those who thought the waters wouldn’t reach them are now being rescued by boat,” Abbas said, adding that his home was submerged overnight.

Zainab Akhtar, 33, said she lost her home in the devastating 2010 floods. “Now it has happened again,” she said as she sat inside a government-donated tent with her family.

Akhtar said she has received some food from charities and the government, but added that many survivors were relying on help from relatives.

So far, Pakistan has not appealed for any international help, saying it has enough resources to respond to the flooding.

The British government announced Thursday an additional 1.6 million pounds ($2.2 million) to help communities in Sindh province prepare for expected flooding, bringing its total humanitarian assistance for Pakistan this monsoon season to $3.4 million.

“Sindh is in a critical window to prepare and reduce the impact of the upcoming floods,” the British High Commissioner Jane Marriott said.

Officials erected tents for displaced families in Muzaffargarh, Narowal and Kasur.

Irfan Ali Kathia, director general of the provincial Disaster Management Authority, said thousands of rescuers are taking part in the relief and rescue operations, while the military has been deployed to transport people and animals from flooded villages.

“Supplies are on the way for the displaced people, and one of the largest rescue and relief operations is still ongoing,” Kathia said. He added that authorities made some breaches along the embankment of the Chenab river overnight Wednesday to protect Muzaffargarh city.

He said timely evacuations had saved lives, but that 46 people had been killed so far in the floods.

Several nongovernmental organizations including the Markazi Muslim League are also active in the flood-hit areas.

Taha Muneeb, a spokesperson for the group, told The Associated Press that the group’s 10,000 volunteers are helping ferry people to safety by boat and delivering food and medical supplies. The group has provided meals to over 800,000 people and offered medical care to 700,000, he added.

Heavy monsoon rains and water released from dams in India have pushed rivers to dangerous levels, according to Kathia.

India sent an alert to Islamabadthrough diplomatic channels Thursday about the possible cross-border flooding. It was the third such alert this week, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.

The authority warned that continued discharge from the Indian dams could further worsen flooding in the Sutlej river and lead to possible flooding in the southern Sindh province.

A new spell of monsoon rains is expected to persist for another 24 to 48 hours and floodwaters are also likely to surge in the Indus river, it added Thursday.

“ Overall, 3.8 million people have been affected by the flooding in Punjab,” Javed said in a statement. He said the affected include those who suffered damages after their villages were flooded.

The latest floods are the worst since 2022, when flooding killed nearly 1,700 people in Pakistan.

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Dogar reported from Kasur, Pakistan. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this story.

Residents navigate through a flooded road following by heavy rains, in Gujrat, Pakistan, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/A. Rizvi)

People, who fled from their homes due to flood, take shelter at a relief camp on the outskirts of Multan, Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

People, who fled from their homes due to flood, take shelter at a relief camp on the outskirts of Multan, Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer)

Rescue workers evacuate villagers from a flooded area in Muza Islam Wala, in Jhang district, Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Villagers wade through a flooded area, in Tiba Gheal village, in Jhang district, Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jahan Zeb)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court will decide whether to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that has put a spotlight on the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.

The Alaska Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday in the case against Tupe Smith, who was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. Smith has said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials in the community of Whittier when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.

American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.

American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.

Smith's attorneys have asked the appeals court to reverse a lower court's decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Smith's supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state has argued that Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.

State prosecutors separately have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in Whittier, including Smith’s husband, Michael Pese.

Thursday's arguments centered on the meaning of the word intentionally.

Smith “and others like her who get caught up in Alaska’s confusing election administration system and do not have any intent to mislead or deceive should not face felony voter misconduct charges,” one of her attorneys, Whitney Brown, told the court.

But Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said that as part of ensuring election integrity, it's important that oaths being relied upon are accurate.

About 25 people gathered on a snowy street outside the Anchorage courthouse before Thursday’s hearing to support Smith. Some carried signs that read, ”We support Samoans.”

State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat who attended the rally, said the Alaska Department of Law has limited resources.

“We should be going after people who are genuine criminals, who are violent criminals, or at least have the intent to deceive,” he said.

In a court filing in 2024, one of Smith's previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was “unaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote."

Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.

Smith “exercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,” her current attorneys said in a filing in September. “Her belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.”

The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”

The counts Smith was indicted on “did not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,” Doyle said in a court filing last year.

One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, has said the appeals court could dismiss the case or send it back to the lower court “to consider whether the state can meet the standard it has set forth for voter misconduct.” The state also could decide to file other charges if the case is dismissed, he said.

The court did not give a timeline for when it would issue a ruling.

Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.

State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, left, stands with supporters of Tupe Smith gathered Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter misconduct case brought against American Samoa native Tupe Smith by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Supporters of Tupe Smith gather outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter misconduct case brought against American Samoa native Tupe Smith by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Michael Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, stand outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Michael Pese, left, his wife, Tupe Smith, and their son Maximus pose for a photo outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

FILE - Tupe Smith poses for a photo outside the school in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)