Security official says curfew lifted to let people flee ahead of a more concerted ground operation
The military eased a curfew in the main towns of North Waziristan on Wednesday to allow civilians to flee a major offensive against the Taliban, signalling a likely escalation in the campaign as the US hit the militants with drone strikes.
Adding to the pressure on the insurgents, two US drone strikes hit compounds in the area early on Wednesday. Tens of thousands of people have already fled the operation, which the military says has killed more than 200 militants, and a fresh exodus is under way.
More than 1,000 vehicles arrived Wednesday in Bannu, just across the border in neighbouring Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, a traditional haven for those fleeing violence in restive North Waziristan.
Registration points and camps have been set up to deal with the influx of people, officials said. The decision to allow more civilians to leave North Waziristan points to a new, more intense phase of the anti-militant drive, in which ground forces will play a greater role.
A senior security official said the curfew was lifted to let people flee ahead of a more concerted ground operation.”Miramshah and Mir Ali have already been cordoned off. Ground troops will move in after civilians move to safe places,” the official said.
“First ground troops will enter in major towns and will then move towards suburban areas after strengthening their positions.”
“We will then go to the villages and to the mountains,” he added, saying the operation would continue until every militant had been eliminated.
Civilian casualties
The number and identity of those killed in the military operation cannot be verified, and some residents who have fled the area spoke of civilian casualties from aerial bombing before the offensive officially began on Sunday.
Aziz-ur-Rehman, a 42-year-old teacher at a school in Mir Ali, fled the town riding on the bonnet of a truck.
“It’s like doomsday for people in Mir Ali, where death is everywhere since Saturday,” he said, accusing the military of killing numerous civilians.
“They start the day with artillery shelling early in the morning. Gunship helicopters come for shelling during the day and jets strike at around 2:00-2:30 in the night.”
He said the onslaught killed two children in his neighbourhood and left a third girl badly wounded.
Rehman was one of around 9,000 people who arrived in Bannu on Wednesday, according to Arshad Khan, Director General of the FATA Disaster Management Authority.
Many streamed into the town carrying possessions with them — quilts, buckets, mats, water coolers, even livestock and family pets. One family even brought three parrots in a cage.
As they left North Waziristan and entered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, people were issued with ration packs containing biscuits, tea, sugar and milk.
Further, thousands of people have also fled across the border into the Gorbaz district of Afghanistan’s Khost province, according to local officials there, and are being given food and aid.