Over 100,000 displaced in Khyber offensive
* NWFP minister says govt intends to set up camp for displaced
ISLAMABAD: Between 56,000 and 100,000 people have fled their homes since troops launched a new anti-Taliban offensive in the Khyber Agency, UN and Pakistani officials estimated on Monday.
The military, backed by artillery and helicopter gunships, launched the offensive on September 1 after a suicide bomber killed 22 policemen in Khyber.
“Over 100,000 people have arrived in Peshawar since the military mounted an offensive,” said NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain.
“We intend to set a camp for them, we have asked the federal government to provide us assistance to cope with the situation,” he added.
Qaiser Afridi, a spokesman for the UN refugees’ agency (UNHCR) said the ongoing operation in the Bara district of Khyber had displaced between 8,000 to 12,000 families.
Each family consisted of an average of seven members.
“They are staying with their friends and relatives and we are just getting this data from our implementing partners,” he said. afp
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| Tuesday, February 09, 2010
