SUKKUR, Pakistan — About 150,000 Pakistanis were forced to move to higher ground as floodwaters from a freshly swollen Indus River submerged dozens more towns and villages in the south, a government spokesman said Saturday.

Officials expect the floodwaters will recede nationwide in the next few days as the last river torrents empty into the Arabian Sea. Survivors might find little left when they return home, however: The waters have washed away houses, roads, bridges and crops vital to livelihoods.

Already, 600,000 people are in relief camps set up in Sindh province during the flooding over the past month.

As the latest surge approached, "We evacuated more than 150,000 people from interior parts of Sindh in the past 24 hours," said Jamil Soomro, a spokesman for the provincial government. The floods submerged new areas in Thatta district.

The floods have affected about one-fifth of Pakistan's territory, straining its civilian government as it also struggles against al-Qaida and Taliban violence. At least 6 million people have been made homeless and 20 million affected overall. The economic cost is expected to run into billions of dollars.