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IDPs reveal hardships after 100,000 flee SWA operation

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Displaced families fleeing South Waziristan on Monday, spoke of their hardships and the problems they face, as more than 100,000 people are said to have fled to safer areas the Pakistan Army launched operation Rah-e-Nijat.

Nearly 5,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are moving towards Dera Ismail Khan and Tank every day, United Nations spokesperson Ishrat Rizvi said on Monday.

Talking to a private TV channel, she said the UN had so far registered 80,500 IDPs. Most of the displaced persons are living in rented houses and also with their families, APP reported. Concerns are mounting that the assault in the region, which presents the military with its biggest challenge yet in the war against the Taliban, would spark another refugee crisis ahead of heavy snow in a bitterly cold winter.

US officials flew in to consult Pakistan's civilian and military leaders as warplanes pounded enemy hideouts and ground troops advanced closer towards Taliban bastions for a third consecutive day, AFP reported.

IDPs who fled to Dera Ismail Khan spoke of intensifying fighting and air strikes.

"I decided to leave when my neighbour's house was destroyed," said Rahim Dad Mehsud, a labourer who said he walked three days to leave South Waziristan.a

Assistance required: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani urged the international community to provide financial assistance for relief and reconstruction at talks with top US General David Petraeus on Monday, his office said. The US has recently praised Pakistan for taking military action against Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants, following a prolonged assault in Swat.

US officials say Al Qaeda fled into Pakistan's tribal areas after US-led operations toppled the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001 and now use the area as a base for plotting attacks on the West. agencies

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