Refugees flee taliban battle in Swat Valley Pakistan

One million people have now fled fighting between the Taliban and government forces in north-west Pakistan, according to the United Nations.

As the country's prime minister ordered soldiers to eliminate all militants and terrorists in the country, thousands continued to pour out of the war-torn Swat Valley.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said this week's fighting has led to half a million people leaving the region in the last few days alone.

Ron Redmond estimated up to 200,000 refugees had now arrived in safe areas - and that another 300,000 are on the move or are about to flee.

Pakistani aircraft continued to bomb Taliban position in Swat, once a popular tourist area, on Friday following an order from Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to drive out the terrorists.

He claimed the Taliban were trying to hold the country hostage at gunpoint.

'In order to restore honour and dignity of our homeland and to protect the people, the armed forces have been called in to eliminate the militants and terrorists,' he said.

Helicopter gunships, fighters and troops were all involved in operations in Swat, and up to 12 militants were killed after as many as 55 were killed the previous day, accoridng to Major Nasir Khan, a military spokesman.
'Our gunship helicopters today targeted and destroyed two militant hideouts and we have confirmed reports that 10 to 12 militants have been killed.'

He said there was also ground action accompanied by air strikes in other parts of the valley, and an important Taliban commander had also died.

Fighting follows the collapse of a three-month-old truce in Swat that was widely criticised in the West as a surrender to the militants.

Under the agreement, the Taliban were given control of the valley, which has a population of 1.6 to 1.7 million and were allowed to impose Sharia law.

But the peace broke down after fighters attempted to seize control of neighbouring Buner.

Both the UN and the Red Cross said the humanitarian Crisis prompted by fighting was getting worse by the day.
On Thursday, thousands of people skirted burning military trucks as they fled the violence.

Convoys of colorful trucks, cars and buses, most overflowing with people and their belongings, traveled hours over mountainous terrain to reach camps in and around the city of Mardan, some 40 miles from the frontline. .

At the Tuberculosis Hospital in Mardan, hundreds jostled before overwhelmed volunteers to register for a tent and a handout of emergency supplies.

Yar Mohammad, a 50-year-old stone mason, said he had 'poured his blood' and his best years into the development of Swat.

'And now I am seeing the buildings that I have helped to construct being blown up and destroyed,' he said, blaming both the Taliban and the authorities.
Some residents complained that the Taliban had blocked their escape.

Fazl Hadi, a doctor at another hospital in Mardan, said 45 civilians had been admitted with serious gunshot or shrapnel wounds in recent days and was bracing for many more.

Among the youngest patients was Chaman Ara, a 12-year-old girl with shrapnel wedged in her left leg.

She said she was wounded last week when a mortar shell hit the truck taking her family and others out of Buner.

She said seven people died, including one of her cousins, and pointed to a nearby bed where the boy's wounded mother lay prone. 'We mustn't tell her yet. Please don't tell her,' she whispered.

'We are in an emergency phase,' UN spokesman Ariane Rummery said. The refugee problem is 'becoming much larger, and much more serious.'

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• malakand
• swat valley
• mardan
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• islam
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[allinaday83]

talibans are bastards...

they are trouble makers in my country...i wish i could kill em all...

unfortunately some of my precious countrymen will suffer but inshllah their deaths will not go wasted..

[jesusnotallah]

This is a civil war. And pakistan leaders are too weak to stand up to the USA and says no to killing their own people. This will last forever and evtually will lead to the division of pakistan. Pakistan leaders are too stupid that is why their country is a mess. The leaders of this nation themselves should have implemented islamic court and this way there will be no trouble but they are too stupid for such thinking and are used by the USA WHO ARE LOOSING THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN