PAKISTAN: Residents in Pakistan's North Waziristan flee as the military resumes airstrikes to flush out insurgents from the volatile border region

Record ID: 590278

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Residents in Pakistan's North Waziristan flee as the military resumes airstrikes to flush out insurgents from the volatile border region
  • Date: 16th June 2014
  • Summary: BANNU, PAKISTAN (JUNE 16, 2014) (REUTERS) LINE OF FAMILIES WALKING TOWARDS BANNU IN AUTO RICKSHAWS VARIOUS OF WOMEN IN BURKAS HOLDING INFANTS MAN CARRYING SMALL CHILD AND HOLDING ELDERLY WOMAN BY HAND WALKING PEOPLE WALKING VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN CHECKING MOTORCYCLISTS AND RICKSHAW DRIVERS POLICEMEN CHECKING IDENTITY PAPERS OF MAN ON MOTOR CYCLE HAND HOLDING AN IDENTITY CAR
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2V5QYLB8QPTCWXOA75LTAVW0P
  • Story Text: Pakistani fighter jets resumed air strikes in North Waziristan on Monday (June 16), as families fled the violence.
    The army announced the start of a major military operation on Sunday (June 15) to flush insurgents out of the volatile region bordering Afghanistan.
    In a long-awaited military operation precipitated by a deadly insurgent attack on Pakistan's biggest airport a week ago, Pakistan deployed troops, artillery and helicopter gunships to fight insurgents in North Waziristan on Sunday (June 15).
    The Taliban and their ethnic Uzbek allies holed up in the area have both claimed responsibility for the June 8 commando-style attack on Karachi airport, which was seen as a strategic turning point in how Pakistan tackles the insurgency.
    The army imposed an all-day curfew in North Waziristan as the operation got under way and turned off mobile phone services to undermine the insurgency and restrict people's movements, leading to food shortages in some places.

    "An operation is going on in North Waziristan. That is why we have been ordered to impose a curfew here and to tighten the security, so that no unpleasant incident can occur. God willing, security is very tight here. Every vehicle is being checked and every person is being watched closely," assistant sub inspector of police, Zahir Khan said.
    A stream of families have fled the area into other parts of Pakistan.
    One man said no arrangements had been made for those escaping the violence.

    "The people of Waziristan are running around here in vain but no houses are available, and no other arrangements have been made for us. The weather is extremely hot and we have children and elderly people with us," said Noman Ghani who had left Miranshah with an extended family including ailing parents.
    Residents fleeing from the regional capital of Miranshah said the streets of the usually bustling town were empty of people and traffic.

    "We are co-operating with the army, and the army is also co-operating with us, because there are sick people with us and elderly people who are very distressed by the heat. We are facing a lot of problems," said Tanveer Ahmed who had escaped from Mir Ali.
    The curfew will be relaxed in the next couple of days to allow residents to leave the area, a security official said.
    For now, ground troops - now numbering some 80,000 in North Waziristan, according to military sources - have not been involved in direct military action, leaving F-16 combat jets to conduct air strikes.
    It was also unclear how long officials expect the operation to last in a region of forbidding mountainous terrain that has historically never been subdued by any government.
    In a telling detail, the operation is called Zarb-e-Azb in Urdu, or "Strike of the Prophet's Sword".
    Independent confirmation or other details were not immediately available in a region where journalists are not allowed to operate freely.
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