Pakistanis Flee Escalated Taliban Fight

Hundreds Of Thousands Flee Taliban-Controlled Valley As Pakistan Battles Militants

(CBS/AP)  Pakistani jets screamed over a Taliban-controlled town Friday and bombed suspected militant positions as hundreds of thousands fled in terror and other trapped residents appealed for a pause in the fighting so they could escape.

The U.N. said half-a-million people have either already left or are trying to flee the bombings in the northwestern Swat Valley area that followed strong U.S. pressure on nuclear-armed Pakistan to fight back against militants advancing toward the capital as a now-defunct peace deal crumbled.

The sudden evacuations have the makings of a huge humanitarian crisis, reports CBS News' Farhan Bokhari in Islmabad. U.N. officials tell Bokhari that there is nowhere near the resources for the outlying towns to handle the sudden influx of refugees.

"There is just not enough preparation in other cities outside Swat to care for these people," said one U.N. official in Islamabad who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity. "If there is a long drawn conflict, there could be a major humanitarian crisis built around people from Swat," the official said.

Raheem Khan, a refugee who fled from Swat and arrived in Islamabad, gave a harrowing account of conditions in the region.

"There are food shortages which are becoming more and more acute every day" he told CBS News in an interview. "In areas where there is active exchange of fire between the Taliban and the army, it is not possible for many people to come out of their homes," he said.

The Pakistani Army says the Taliban is trying to stop civilians from getting out, using them as human shields, reports CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan.

"At the end of the day, the question is, can you force a retreat of the Taliban and force a retreat where they are no longer popular and no longer controlling territory?" CBS News national security consultant Juan Zarate told Logan.

Taking back this area from the Taliban, is only part of the battle. In the past, the government hasn't been able to keep them out, Logan reports.

The crisis in Pakistan is unfolding just days after U.S. President Barack Obama hosted Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai simultaneously in Washington - a signal, observers say, of an intense commitment to what diplomatic experts now call "Af-Pak" issues.

Pakistan has launched at least a dozen operations in the border region in recent years, but most ended inconclusively and after massive destruction and significant civilian deaths. It remains a haven for al Qaeda and Taliban militants, foreign governments say.

To end one of those protracted offensives, the government signed a peace accord in Swat that provided for Islamic law in the region. But that deal began unraveling last month when Swat Taliban fighters moved into Buner, a neighboring district just 60 miles from Islamabad.

Pakistan's prime minister appealed for international assistance late Thursday for the growing refugee crisis and vowed to defeat the militants in the latest operation.

"I appeal to the people of Pakistan to support the government and army at this crucial time," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in a television address. "We pledge to eliminate the elements who have destroyed the peace and calm of the nation and wanted to take Pakistan hostage at gunpoint."

The military hailed signs of the public's mood shifting against the Taliban after the militants used the peace deal to regroup and advance.

"The public have seen their real face," Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said. "They realize their agenda goes much beyond Shariah (Islamic) courts. They have a design to expand."

Still, the pro-Western government will face a stiff task to keep a skeptical nation behind its security forces.

The mayor of Mardan, the main district to the south of the fighting, said an estimated 250,000 people had fled in recent days and that more were on the move. Of those, 4,500 were staying in camps, while the rest were with relatives or rented accommodation, he said.

Pakistani officials have said up to 500,000 are expected leave. The exodus from Swat adds to the more than 500,000 already displaced by fighting elsewhere in Pakistan's volatile border region with Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Ron Redmond, said Friday in Geneva that up to 200,000 people have arrived in safe areas in the past few days and that another 300,000 are on the move or are about to flee.

Military operations are taking place in three districts that stretch over some 400 square miles. Much of the fighting has been in the Swat Valley's main city of Mingora, a militant hub that was home to around 360,000 people before the insurgency two years ago.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Friday that 140 militants had been killed in the last 24 hours, adding to around 150 already reported slain. He did give any figures for civilian deaths, but witness and local media say that noncombatants have been killed.

Tens of thousands of people remain trapped in Mingora. Some have said the Taliban are not allowing them to leave, perhaps because they want to use them as "human shields" and make the army unwilling to use force.

"We want to leave the city, but we cannot go out because of the fighting," said one resident, Hidayat Ullah. "We will be killed, our children will be killed, our women will be killed and these Taliban will escape."

"Kill terrorists, but don't harm us," he pleaded.

[hamiltongrad]

jckburn. Right on. Well put. I can't image this happening in a Western Country,

[lehnahund]

None of this would have and did not happen under Bush. Bush was respected for his strength even if he was not popular like the class clown Obama. The Taliban is advancing on nukes and Obama does not even know because he has head buried so far in the sand of Socialism. He needs to ignore his Liberal utopia dream and join the real world.
Posted by jonesjep at 4:00 PM : May 8, 2009

On contraire, mon cher. Just the opposite.

It has a lot to do with the senseless,illegitim Irak war.

There are two political gainers of that war. First is Shiite Iran, who has become the main power in the mideast. The second are the talibans, because they earned the suppport of millions of people in that region.

There are two political loosers as well. First the USA, learning her limits not able to win and finance a middlesized war polically. second and that is worse, the credability of the US and the idea of democracy.

Bombing from the air is not helping either. As long as any war in that region is led like this it will end in a political desaster.

If the good fairy would give a wish. It could be, to have Saddam back und the Baath regime. That is more politically than religious minded. Saddam had nothing to do with Al-Queida and he would be a stopping point to Iran. He might even help out against the talibans.

But the neocons around Wolfowitz knew everything better.

This mess is the mess of not listening of Bush and his neocons.

[jckbrn-2009]

Do I understand ? ? - - - - "YOU" kill the Taliban, but don't kill me - - "You" fight to free me, but I must go away while you do that ? ? - - - I can't be involved, but want "you' to make things safe for me ? ? ?
If "my" freedom, "my" wellbeing is at stake, do I become a "refugee" and run away from the struggle - - - - or should I take an active interest in the issue - - enough to assist in the process ? ? How many of those "refugees" should be involved in the fight for their homes and rights and privileges - - - - including women and children? ?
There can be participation, even without a weapon. Help yourself before asking for help was what I was taught all my life - - assist in the fight, don't run from it while others fight your battles.
I guess I just have a different mentality - - or backbone - - or - -

[rational_1]

Another feather in Charlie Wilson's cap? Does Tom Hanks regret portraying a meddler as a hero? If Russia controlled Afghanistan, would the world be better off today? Just asking.
Posted by runningralph at 9:40 PM : May 8, 2009

I don't think Russia was even close to ever really controlling Afghanistan and even if they could take control for a while (doubtful), could they keep control? IMO, irrespective of Wilson's efforts, I think it was basically a question of when not if Russia would give up.

[runningralph]

Another feather in Charlie Wilson's cap? Does Tom Hanks regret portraying a meddler as a hero? If Russia controlled Afghanistan, would the world be better off today? Just asking.

[pensacola8-2009]

The human agony paid to save a country and a way of life always populates itself with many images of suffering that few can ever forget.

Joy will return in due time. It is my hope that conflict resolution in the future can be accomplished through less painful processes.

obama/biden are killing people

[jonesjep]

None of this would have and did not happen under Bush. Bush was respected for his strength even if he was not popular like the class clown Obama. The Taliban is advancing on nukes and Obama does not even know because he has head buried so far in the sand of Socialism. He needs to ignore his Liberal utopia dream and join the real world.

[summarex]

It was the United States that pressured the Pakistanis to break the truce. It seems that Obama is about to embark on the road od Bush stupidity. Let's hope someone explains things to him before he goes any further.

[jwind1]

If Bush had put the resources into Afghanistan when the fight was crucial, Bin Laden wouldn't be in Pakistan reeking havoc right now. He sat idly by when Bin Laden walked out of Tora Bora and focused on helping Cheney and Halliburton grab oil in Iraq.
Posted by zykracosmos at 9:17 AM : May 8, 2009

how profound!! how com you arent president?

[debinok1]

I will be more concerned when they announce peace. That is when things really get bad.

[zykracosmos]

If Bush had put the resources into Afghanistan when the fight was crucial, Bin Laden wouldn't be in Pakistan reeking havoc right now. He sat idly by when Bin Laden walked out of Tora Bora and focused on helping Cheney and Halliburton grab oil in Iraq.

[I_am_me1953]

From the above article, "...as hundreds of thousands fled in terror and other trapped residents appealed for a pause in the fighting so they could escape."
-----------------------------------------

Weren't they told several days ago to get out? And they decided to stay?
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No complaints yet from the Pakistani government condemning civilian casualties.

The US fires one missile at Taliban target in the lawless boarder region, by the Taliban account, a whole village of women and children killed and eaten. and this attack is then loudly condemned by the Pakistani Government claiming this type of attacks creates hatred towards the US. No one bothers to mention the hate is only coming from people sympathetic to the Taliban.

Posted by veils-2009 at 7:08 AM : May 8, 2009
____________________

There is a big difference between the local government killing innocent local civilians during a war to retake your own back, and a foreign govt. killing the innocent civilians in a war against your counrty.

[rational_1]

"To end one of those protracted offensives, the government signed a peace accord in Swat that provided for Islamic law in the region. But that deal began unraveling last month when Swat Taliban fighters moved into Buner, a neighboring district just 60 miles from Islamabad. "

Guess the Pakistani government officials have never read much in the way of history, or this wouldn't come as much of a surprise. Think back to the attempts to appease Hitler with the Sudetenland in the Munich Agreement. Appeasement invariably just ends up emboldening the aggressor and so the Pakistani government is now reaping what it sowed..

[veils-2009]

No complaints yet from the Pakistani government condemning civilian casualties.

The US fires one missile at Taliban target in the lawless boarder region, by the Taliban account, a whole village of women and children killed and eaten. and this attack is then loudly condemned by the Pakistani Government claiming this type of attacks creates hatred towards the US. No one bothers to mention the hate is only coming from people sympathetic to the Taliban.