Relief Effort Begins For Pakistan Refugees
Local residents flee Mingora, the main town of Swat Valley, Sunday. Thousands of fearful civilians, many on foot or donkey-pulled carts streamed out of a conflict-ridden Pakistani region as authorities briefly lifted a curfew.
The Pakistani military on Tuesday was formally called to lead a relief operation targeting the northern embattled Swat valley, as international concern mounted rapidly over the future of at least 1.3 million civilians displaced by the fighting.
Up to 750 Taliban militants have been killed in the fighting during the past week though they are continuing to resist Pakistan's military troops.
Pakistani officials said up to an additional 200,000 civilians were still believed to be trapped in Mingora, the main provincial town of Swat, unable to leave because of the fighting.
Major General Athar Abbas, the Pakistan military's chief spokesman, announced that Lt. General Nadeem Ahmed, the man who led the military's effort to provide relief to victims of the 2005 earthquake in the Kashmir region, had been appointed as head of a newly formed special support group.
The group would be responsible for coordinating all activities geared towards emergency assistance for people displaced from Swat and forced to end up in one of the 17 camps for IDPs or Internally Displaced People, established in the northwest frontier province (NWFP).
"It is about time a focus came on the table. This is extremely good news" said a U.N. official who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity. "I believe General Nadeem Ahmed will provide a great deal of focus to this effort" he added.
U.N. agencies such as the U.N. High Commission For Refugees and the U.N. World Food Program have decided to step up their efforts to provide emergency relief to the refugees. The large scale exodus from Swat has triggered fears over a likely new phase of instability for nuclear armed Pakistan. Without emergency relief, the refugees could form large bands and embrace extreme tactics such as blocking main roads or rioting, U.N. officials have warned.
In Islamabad, some of the refugees arriving from the Swat valley have given harrowing accounts of their escape as the Pakistan military and the Taliban traded heavy fire.
"It is nothing short of a miracle that I and my family have lived through our journey" said Ajmal Khan, one of the refugees who arrived in Islamabad on Monday. "For two days and nights, we walked through rugged terrain in this summer heat before we were able to board a truck full of others" leaving Swat, he told CBS News in an interview.
General Abbas told journalists that while the fighting continued, the military was gaining the upper hand. "The operation is continuing. The militants are on the run" he said on Tuesday.
Western diplomats warn that a military success in Swat in itself was not likely to fully curb the activities of Taliban militants – a group that in recent years has gained strength in the areas along the Afghan border. The latest fighting in Swat has raised a fresh danger of the Taliban launching suicide attacks on parts of Pakistan to retaliate against the military's action.
"These people are likely to fight back the way they know best which is through suicide attacks" said one western diplomat in Islamabad who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity.