Up to 0.1 million people have fled their homes in a Pakistani district bordering Afghanistan after the military launched an offensive against Islamist militants, officials said Wednesday. Thousands of families escaped from Kurram district after the operation began early this month in a region where Pakistani militants and Taliban groups active in Afghanistan have bases and training camps. “We have so far registered at least 9,944 families – up to 100,000 people,” senior government official Sahibzada Anis, who is supervising help for the refugees, told AFP.
He said that about 1,800 families were living in temporary camps but many others had moved either to relatives’ houses or into rented premises. “These camps have been set up in schools and colleges, which are closed for summer vacations,” he said. “The government may extend vacations if the operation prolongs in Kurram.” When it launched the offensive, the army vowed to clear Kurram of all militants, including those behind suicide attacks and the kidnapping and killing of locals. Pakistan’s seven tribal districts bordering Afghanistan are rife with a homegrown insurgency, and are also strongholds of the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda operatives.
