Over 100,000 have fled fighting in 2 months: UNHCR

Proximity of insurgency and govt instructions cited as reasons for exodus.

GENEVA: Over 100,000 people have fled fighting between government troops and Taliban or al Qaeda-linked militants in a tribal region since January 20, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.

“An estimated 101,160 people, mostly women and children, have become displaced since January 20 when government troops began security operations against militant groups in the Khyber” tribal district, said the UNHCR in a statement.

The agency warned that a recent increase in the intensity of combat was pushing even larger numbers of families to flee the region to Jalozai camp, located close to Peshawar.

On average, 2,000 families have been arriving daily at the camp since March 17, said the UNHCR.

“New arrivals say that they have left their homes because of the proximity of fighting and due to instructions by the authorities to evacuate the area,” it added.

UNHCR Representative in Pakistan Neil Wright visited Jalozai and met with those who had recently arrived. Among them was Mir Afzal, who had come to Peshawar with his family a day earlier.

Afzal said military officials had recently made an announcement at his village mosque that residents should temporarily evacuate the area. “Within our communities,” he said, “everyone knows what the situation is and where we should go for help.”

Pakistan’s seven tribal districts near the Afghan border are rife with homegrown insurgents and are strongholds of Taliban insurgents.

Militants have killed almost 5,000 people across Pakistan since government troops raided the Lal Masjid in July 2007.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2012.