Pakistanis Flee to Capital

In Pakistan, security forces are battling Taliban militants. Here's more on the situation, as thousands of people are fleeing their homes.

In the Swat area of northwest Pakistan, at least 830,000 people are fleeing to the nation's capital of Islamabad. It comes as Pakistani security forces are in a battle with Taliban militants. Tucked among the trees of one of the "green belts" of the city, a shabby tent camp is expanding fast and spreading out. Families first took refuge here last August to escape fighting in another area. Now, the camp has 513 people crammed into 35 tents. It runs from rations donated by generous locals. One young carpenter who fled from Swat, 160 kilometres from Islamabad, says the Taliban was now demanding young men join their ranks. [Mohsin Khan, Carpenter]: "The Taliban came to our village. They would come to the mosqueand forcibly demand: ‘give us donations or give us a boy.' " The new arrivals join more than 500,000 displaced by earlier fighting in the northwest. [Zeba Bibi, Buner Resident]: "I have left my lands there. I had planted wheat, fruit, vegetables and many other things. But the fighting started, and a shell came from above and destroyed my house. Then I came here. I walked through the mountainous roads." There is no clean drinking water, electricity or medical facilities in the makeshift camp. Pakistani action against militants in its northwest is vital for U.S. efforts to defeat al Qaeda and stabilize neighboring Afghanistan. But opposition is likely to grow if many civilians are killed or displaced in the fighting.

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News & Politics

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