menu
spacer
 
| Ander Nieuws week 44 / nieuwe oorlog 2008 |
 
 
 
UN: 190,000 displaced by fighting near Pakistan-Afghan border

 
CBC News (Canada)
October 14, 2008
 
Nearly 190,000 people have been displaced from Pakistan's Bajaur region bordering Afghanistan ever since fighting began in mid-August between Pakistani troops and militants, the United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday.
 
The UN statement on the refugees came amid reports of new clashes between Pakistani troops and militants in the area Tuesday.
 
Fighting is spreading across Pakistan's rugged northwest as the government tries to crack down on insurgents blamed for soaring attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and a bloody campaign of suicide bombings against military and western targets within Pakistan.
 
The UN high commissioner for refugees said Tuesday it's trying to provide urgent shelter and other aid for the displaced, but the refugee agency said it cannot access most of these areas for security reasons.
 
It is relying on Pakistan government estimates, with the large majority staying with host families on both sides of the border, the agency said.
 
More than 168,000 internally displaced persons have sought shelter in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, while more than 20,000 Pakistanis and Afghans have fled into the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, the agency said, citing those estimates.
 
"We cannot verify this figure as population movements are fluid and registration is ongoing in the 10 official IDP camps," UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said in Geneva.
 
UNHCR and its partners have been assisting the 20,700 people who have fled the Bajaur conflict in the past two months, the agency said.ore than 60 per cent are Pakistanis, and all are living with relatives and host families.
 
With files from the Associated Press
 
Copyright © CBC 2008
 
Original link
 

 
 
| Ander Nieuws week 44 / nieuwe oorlog 2008 |