Malnutrition kills 300 children in Pak desert

Nearly 300 children have died this year in desert communities in southern Pakistan, officials said yesterday, as poor monsoon rains and livestock diseases have combined to worsen malnutrition.

The Thar desert, straddling the Indian border and one of Pakistan's poorest areas, has seen an alarming number of children suffering pneumonia or diarrhoea due to a dangerous mix of drought, poverty and poor health infrastructure.

The deaths have prompted criticism for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which governs in the southern province of Sindh where part of the desert is located.