A member of the media films at the site of a bomb attack in the Spin Tal region of Hangu district, bordering North Waziristan in October 3, 2013. PHOTO: AFP
Residents said some 1,500 families or about 13,000 people left their villages around the towns of Mir Ali and Miranshah, to migrate to relatively safer areas outside the tribal areas in Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar.
The exodus began last week when Pakistan Air Force fighter jets bombarded the area following a series of militant attacks on security forces and civilians which killed more than 100 people in a week.
North Waziristan is one of seven semi-autonomous regions in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan and governed by tribal laws.
"Around 1,500 families and up to 13,000 people have left several villages in North Waziristan," Rafiullah, 25, a resident of Musaki village in Mir Ali, told AFP by phone.
"People are unable to find houses to go to in Bannu, so many women, children and old men are lying out in the open. Many others have gone to Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan districts to find some shelter," he said.
Government officials said that up to 8,000 people had arrived in Bannu, a town bordering North Waziristan.
"We can estimate up to 700 families and around 8,000 people have arrived in Bannu," Arshad Khan, head of the FATA Disaster Management Authority, told AFP.
"No military operation has been announced in the tribal area. So there are no instructions to make arrangements for the internally displaced people," he added.
Another government official in Miranshah said a military operation was not on the cards.
"No military operation is going to take place in Miranshah and Mir Ali. So people should not leave their houses and should stay there," said Siraj Ahmed Khan, a senior administration official.
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if you do it you are bad and if you don't do it you are bad. After giving the final touches to their paradise of a country. The trolls from the east have arrived on ET to advise us and belittle us on our operation against foreign funded militants. Wait a second! what about all the investment they have done to encourage the insurgents. India is going to lose lot of assets in this operation.
@BruteForce .. not true , India had used Air strikes against Mizo National Front rebels in 1966. Although, the possibility of that happening today is much less, as there would be a huge outcry.
Pakistan is crying for kashmir people, but they don't bother to bomb there own people,crazy..
I hope they are not headings towards karachi....Go to Lahore plz....
@BruteForce: Till date no IAF plane has bombarded any territory considered Integral and Sovereign of India
That is the main difference - what part of Pakistan is integral or sovereign ? All land has been gifted or leased to the the Chinese, Saudis, Turks, Americans, Chechens, Uzbeghs, Somalis, Libyans, Afghans and the arabs from the emirates.
All the runaway people need to be thoroughly checked before being allowed into cities. Last time such an exodus happened thousands of terrorist sympathizers settled in Karachi and now bomb blasts are a daily occurrence.
This is the reason our great visionary leader is not allowing armed forces to go ahead and start operation. As soon as the operation would begin, establishment and its stooges will commence blaming him for all the consequences.
All military operations are followed by a backlash which hit the roads, schools, military bases, government offices, homes, mosques, and bazars of Pakistan. For a simple reason to. Kill a man's family. Rid him from his home. End his economic prospects. He has nothing to live for but a vengeance to die for. Forget all rational thinking because emotion will cloud the reasoning. Bombing only brings sympathy for the terrorists. If we want to win we must learn to isolate the terrorists. Deliver them a moral defeat. Keep bombing your people and every death will give you four new enemies. Common Sense.
Accommodate them in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi.
@Jat: This is kind of country can bobm not just own people but like to just bomb cities where politicans and rich people not irrespective how much terrorism is there. This is very divided kind of Pakistan. Have u seen any civilized country to bomb own people in history??
Till date no IAF plane has bombarded any territory considered Integral and Sovereign of India.
When the IAF chief was asked why not use Drones against Maoists, he said its not a IAF policy to bomb our own citizens. More than a policy its common sense.
Seems like Pakistan doesn't have such reservations.
What kind of a country bombs its own population with fighter bombers and heavy artillery ?
people who support military operation should come out and take these people to their homes or provide them shelter, food and education