"Nato has essentially decided to limit its mission to 90 days; it is essentially a short-term mission for humanitarian relief and we should get that done as quickly as possible," Nato Ambassador Maurits Jochems told a press briefing here.
He said the Nato's humanitarian relief operation was focused on helping to provide assistance in the short-term to as many survivors of the October 8 earthquake as possible, "helping paves the way for other relief agencies to begin the process of longer assistance and reconstruction".
All offers from Nato and partner nations were being co-ordinated by Nato's Euro-Atlantic Disaster Co-ordination Centre (EADRCC) which was working in close conjunction with the UN office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the EU and the government of Pakistan.
Ambassador Jochems said Nato began relief assistance on October 13 when it airlifted supplies donated by Slovenia and later ferried another consignment supplied by Sweden.
Nato established a second air-bridge using Nato Response Force (NRF) to carry supplies - blankets, stoves, tents from Incirlik Turkey, donated by the UNHCR.
Eight C-130 aircraft from France, Greece, Italy and the UK had been deployed in Incirlik. Eight additional aircraft from Denmark, France, Germany and the UK had been activated and were held on different "notice to move" times, the ambassador said.
He said on October 21, the Nato decided to offer to enhance its assistance deploying appropriate assets, including from the NRF that included a battalion of engineers and a multinational mobile medical team.
The teams of engineers and doctors were in the process of being deployed in the affected areas. The total number of Nato personnel, helping in relief assistance, would be around 1000, ambassador Jochems said.
He said apart from Nato, many Nato nations were also involved in relief efforts on bilateral basis.
Co-ordinating command and control for air and land-based teams Vice Admiral John Stufflebeem said Nato's military capabilities were used only for humanitarian assistance and it had no long-term intention to stay in Pakistan. "We are trying to help people here and will stay only as long as the host government wants," he said.
Admiral Stufflebeem said time was the essence as the approaching winter in the region was working against all relief assistance.
The Admiral who had visited the quake-hit areas in Azad Kashmir and the NWFP said in many areas villages had been completely destroyed.
To a question on the number of helicopters needed, Admiral Stufflebeem said apart from four Nato choppers, many Nato countries had provided helicopters on bilateral-assistance basis.
However, he maintained the two bases from where the airborne operation was being conducted were out of capacity and more helicopters would only add to congestion and reduce operations.
He said it was not the number of helicopter but maximising the capabilities that mattered more.
To a question, he said operations from bases in Afghanistan were not possible, as it was too far a distance for helicopters to travel and assist the relief and rescue operations.