BAGHDAD, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on Wednesday directed the allocation of emergency funds and relief assistance to Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region following a wave of severe weather and heavy flooding that struck the region and neighboring provinces.

According to a statement by his media office, al-Sudani instructed the Finance Ministry to allocate an emergency fund and tasked the National Center for Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management "to provide the necessary assistance and support" to ensure the provision of all required relief supplies for people in the Kurdistan Region.

The floods, caused by heavy rainfall, have affected several Iraqi provinces, resulting in damaged infrastructure, the submersion of some areas, and the loss of lives and injuries, according to local media reports.

In a separate statement, the Security Media Cell, a media outlet affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC), said that al-Sudani had directed the establishment of an advanced command center between the provinces of Kirkuk and Salahuddin, and the deployment of aircraft to carry out evacuation operations as soon as weather conditions improve. ■