<p><br /> Failure to meet the immediate needs of flood victims in a key province in northwest Pakistan could fuel the Taliban insurgency and pose a major regional security threat, the provincial chief minister has said.<br /> </p><p><br /> The cost of flood relief has forced the government to suspend its 2010 development spending in Khyber-Pakhtunkwa province, although militancy remains strong there, Provincial assembly member Amir Haider Khan Hoti said.<br /> </p><p><br /> "... if the government, if we fail to deliver, the situation is going to be disastrous and not only for this province but for Pakistan or for the region," he said.<br /> </p><p><br /> "As you know, this is the frontline province as far as the war on terror is concerned. This would be a disastrous situation for the entire international community."<br /> </p><p><br /> The government had planned to spend billions of dollars on development projects in Khyber-Pakhtunkwa province to win popular support and undermine militants, who often recruit Pakistanis disillusioned with the state.<br /> </p><p><br /> The cost of immediate flood relief will delay those efforts, said Hoti. "We have compromised on our annual development plan and yesterday I suspended the entire new portfolio for our development plan for this province worth about 17 billion rupees (about $200 million) because of the floods," he said.<br /> </p>
