PAKISTAN: Swat refugees see tents blown away in dusty camp

Record ID: 345224

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Swat refugees see tents blown away in dusty camp
  • Date: 20th May 2009
  • Summary: MARDAN, PAKISTAN (MAY 19, 2009) (REUTERS) TREE SWAYING IN THE WIND VARIOUS REFUGEES IN WINDBLOWN CAMP SOUNDBITE (Pashto) SAWAB KHAN, MAN WHO FLED FROM BUNER, SAYING: "Twice a day the tanker brings water, but it is totally unclean. I'll show you the bucket in which I got the water and you can see the sediment at the bottom. Such is the state of affairs here." VARIOUS MA
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACW0TDRWI0ESNEK6VDRSQUZMIK
  • Story Text: As Pakistani soldiers battled Taliban militants in towns in Swat on Tuesday (May 19), and authorities scrambled to get food to thousands of civilians trapped by the fighting, a heavy storm in Mardan blew away tents in a camp for hundreds of families displaced by the conflict.
    Perplexed men in Sheikh Shehzad camp struggled with tents that threatened to collapse, while others tried to find ways to drain water from their tents in case the rain became heavier.
    Residents complained about the lack of clean drinking water and other facilities in the camp.
    "Twice a day the tanker brings water, but it is totally unclean. I'll show you the bucket in which I got the water and you can see the sediment at the bottom. Such is the state of affairs here," grumbled Sawab Khan, who fled from Buner last week.
    "There are no arrangements for rain. If the rain becomes heavier, we will not be able to cope with it. We want to help, especially because there are people here who have children," said Mohammad Kamran, a cleaner at the camp.
    "Some of the tents collapsed, and we went to their assistance," he added.
    A Pakistani military offensive against Taliban militants in their Swat valley bastion has forced more than a million people from their homes, the government and the United Nations say.
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