PAKISTAN: Thousands of Pakistanis have been forced to flee their homes due to clashes between Pakistani troops and al-Qaeda fighters in the remote tribal region along the Afghan border.
The increasingly violent confrontation is imposing growing costs on civilians and prompting warnings of wider unrest.
A legal forum report says Pakistani forces have deployed troops, helicopters and armoured vehicles in South Waziristan in the battle against al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, is also believed to be possibly hiding out in the border region.
A paramilitary soldier was killed and a female civilian seriously wounded yesterday in the latest clash after militants machine-gunned a paramilitary base in Kaniguram, about 40 km north of South Waziristan's main town of Wana. More than 200 people, including civilians, have died since the operations began in October.
The legal forum report said those forced to flee the fighting were living without any assistance in adjoining areas.
"A major human tragedy is emerging in the region," said the five-page report from the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, the main lawyer's forum in north-west Pakistan. "Neither the central government nor the provincial government or any non-governmental organisation has taken any step to help these innocent people."
The Pakistani military operation has targeted hundreds of foreign militants, including Chechens, Uzbeks and Arabs thought to be hiding in the mountains. - (Reuters)