NATO Disaster Relief Team Pakistan
- Duration
- 23 October 2005 - 1 February 2006
- Military personnel
- 287
- Fatalities
- none
- Decorations
- none
On 8 October 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit the India-Pakistan border area, with its epicentre in the north-west of Pakistan. It was the first natural disaster in decades to take such a high toll: 70.000 people were killed.
The Pakistani authorities were also faced with more than 75.000 injured and 3.5 million people made homeless. Large numbers of people needed medical attention, and winter was approaching.
On 10 October, Pakistan asked the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for humanitarian assistance. An aid operation was set up, the first-ever NATO mission on Pakistani territory. The organisation made military assets available from the NATO Response Force (NRF). The objective was to enable the Pakistani authorities to begin the reconstruction effort and to help the population survive the winter. The duration of the mission was 3 months.