Antonio Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, toured the disaster zone where 73,000 people died and 3.5 million others were left homeless by the October 8 earthquake.

"Pakistan has been the most generous host country in the world for refugees and it's time for all of us to be very strongly committed towards helping the people who have suffered a lot in this worst disaster," Guterres told reporters in Muzaffarabad, the devastated capital of Pakistani Kashmir.

"What we are trying to do is to create conditions for people to be able to go over the winter without any tragedy," he added. "That's our commitment, that's our concern, that's what everybody together is working in order to achieve."

Around three million Afghans still live in Pakistan. Many have lived there for years, having fled the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, while others came after a US-led military operation toppled the hardline Taliban regime.

Backed by foreign military teams and agencies, the country is now struggling to get food and shelter to around the same number of people left without shelter by the devastating earthquake.

Gueterres said the more than 5.8 billion dollars in aid pledged by donors at an international conference in Islamabad on Saturday must materialise soon before cold and hunger claim more lives.

"The most important thing is that the aid pledged by the international community becomes a real thing as quickly as possible," he said.

"Our hearts are very sad because millions of people are suffering a lot which requires the solidarity of the international community."

He said they were not only committed to rebuilding houses, schools and roads, but the lives of the people.

"We will do everything we can. All our resources, all our staff are totally dedicated to this huge task -- helping the people to rebuild their lives," Guterres added.

The UNHCR chief also met the Pakistani Kashmir premier Sikandar Hayat before attending a briefing by military officials at the UN compound in Muzaffarabad.

"We are grateful to the UN and its agencies for their invaluable services to the victims of the killer earthquake," he was told by Brigadier Iftikhar Ali, a senior Pakistani officer involved in relief work.

Earlier this year Pakistan ordered the closure for security reasons of all refugee camps in its semi-autonomous tribal regions, where fewer than 200,000 refugees live. The UNHCR supported the decision.

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