Millions displaced as pakistani military extends its offensive
Millions displaced as Pakistani military extends its offensive
By James Cogan
An internally displaced girl, fleeing a military offensive in the Swat valley, waits for food to be distributed at a UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) camp in Mardan, about 120 km (75 miles) north west of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad May 27, 2009.
The Pakistani military is deepening its assault against Islamist militants in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) district of Swat Valley and beginning to extend its operations into other ethnic Pashtun-populated areas. The Obama administration insisted that the Pakistani government launch the offensive as part of US efforts to crush the anti-occupation insurgency over the border in Afghanistan.
The present focus of the fighting is Mingora, once the largest city in Swat with a population over 250,000. It is estimated that all but 10,000 to 20,000 of its inhabitants fled before the military assault. In the east of the valley, troops have reportedly seized the former ski resort town of Maalam Jabba. To the west, operations are continuing against the remaining militants in the Peochar Valley.
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