This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/8039767.stm
The article has changed 16 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Thousands flee Pakistan fighting | Thousands flee Pakistan fighting |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A Pakistani offensive against militants in the Swat Valley has displaced some 200,000 people recently, the UN says. | A Pakistani offensive against militants in the Swat Valley has displaced some 200,000 people recently, the UN says. |
| A spokesman for the UN's refugee agency UNHCR said another 300,000 were already on the move or about to flee. | A spokesman for the UN's refugee agency UNHCR said another 300,000 were already on the move or about to flee. |
| Added to the more than 550,000 who had already fled, this threatened to create one of the world's biggest displacement crises, the UN says. | |
| Pakistani spokesman Gen Athar Abbas said the government had taken measures to provide for the civilians fleeing. | Pakistani spokesman Gen Athar Abbas said the government had taken measures to provide for the civilians fleeing. |
| But reports suggest some civilians are being prevented from leaving militant-held areas. | But reports suggest some civilians are being prevented from leaving militant-held areas. |
| See a map of the region | |
| Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani vowed on Thursday to "eliminate militants and terrorists" from Swat, a bastion of Taleban rule. | Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani vowed on Thursday to "eliminate militants and terrorists" from Swat, a bastion of Taleban rule. |
| A full-scale offensive had begun on Friday, with helicopter gunships blasting militant strongholds from the air and troops conducting operations on the ground. | A full-scale offensive had begun on Friday, with helicopter gunships blasting militant strongholds from the air and troops conducting operations on the ground. |
| Despite now abandoned attempts to secure a peace deal in and around Swat, the area - close to the border with Afghanistan - has long been riven with tensions. | Despite now abandoned attempts to secure a peace deal in and around Swat, the area - close to the border with Afghanistan - has long been riven with tensions. |
| The UN estimates that before the current crisis, some 550,000 people had been displaced since last August, said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond, according to Associated Press news agency. | |
| Militants 'entrenched' | |
| Those displaced over recent days have been forced to flee with very little preparation, aid workers say. | |
| They say families were often separated as they fled, and doctors in displaced camps report many are suffering psychological trauma. | |
| FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme | |
| Speaking to the BBC, Gen Abbas confirmed that the military's objective in this now fully fledged offensive was to eliminate militants from the Swat Valley and some surrounding districts. | |
| "It will be a drawn-out affair," he warned, "because the militants in Swat have had time to entrench themselves in the area, mix with the people, and through coercion, fear and using terror as a weapon, eliminate all those who supported the government." | |
| He said militants were "making best use of the terrain, which is ideal country for any guerrilla warfare". | |
| The BBC's Mark Dummett in Islamabad says that the government's superiority in terms of military hardware would ensure it easy victory in a pitched battle. | |
| But this is not a pitched battle, he says: the terrain allows the Taleban to disperse and regroup. The militants are well-motivated, he adds. | |
| At present, our correspondent says, the government is confident it has public support for its military campaign - but this could easily be eroded if civilian casualties mount. | |
| Click here to return |