Pakistan floods: Army rushed in as death toll hits 344

Rescue operations are underway in northwestern Pakistan after flash floods triggered by days of torrential rain have claimed at least 344 lives, with more than 150 people still missing. The hardest-hit area is the mountainous district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the death toll reached 277 on Monday after rescuers recovered three additional bodies.

The army has deployed engineers and heavy machinery to clear rubble and access remote areas, while rescue teams continue to search for residents swept away by the floods. Villagers have criticized officials for failing to provide timely evacuation warnings, traditionally broadcast via mosque loudspeakers.

Government authorities, however, maintain that an early warning system was in place, but the intensity and suddenness of the downpour left little time for residents to respond.

A senior politician has controversially blamed local residents for the high death toll, suggesting that homes should not have been built in flood-prone areas.