Thousands flee valley as Pakistan lifts curfew

THOUSANDS of fearful civilians, many on foot or using donkey-pulled carts, streamed out of a conflict-ridden Pakistani valley yesterday as authorities briefly lifted a curfew. The army said it had killed scores of militants in the latest fighting.

Pakistan has urged residents of the Swat Valley to leave over the past week, while its warplanes have pounded the Taliban-held valley and surrounding areas in a US-backed operation the prime minister has called a “war of the country’s survival”. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have already fled the valley, seeking refuge with relatives or flooding relief camps.

Many of those camps were already filled with Pakistanis displaced from previous army operations, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in a nuclear-armed nation that also faces economic woes.

Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said 400 to 500 militants had been killed since the operation’s launch last week. Much of the latest fighting occurred along the periphery of Swat and Shangla, a neighbouring district, and at least 140 bodies of alleged militants were discovered at a militant training camp in that area.

Once the curfew was lifted yesterday, more residents in Swat towns tried to get out on motorbikes, animal-drawn carts, rickshaws or simply on foot. A ban on civilian vehicles entering the valley complicated the exodus for those without cars.

Some cursed the war and condemned the Taliban. Others blamed Pakistan for engaging in the offensive to please the US. “Show our picture to your master, America, and get money from him,” some taunted.

The curfew was reimposed in the mid-afternoon. By giving residents a chance to escape, the army may be signaling an escalation in its offensive against the militants who began a violent campaign to take over Swat some two years ago.

Pakistan launched the full-scale offensive on Thursday to halt the spread of Taliban control in districts within 100km of the capital, Islamabad. The goal is to wrest Swat and neighbouring districts from militants who also dominate the adjoining tribal belt along the Afghan frontier, where US officials say Osama bin Laden may be hiding.

In the north-west district of Mardan, government official Khalid Umerzai said more than 100,000 displaced Pakistanis were expected yesterday, on top of 252,000 already there.

The international aid agency, World Vision, said its relief workers were finding “intolerable” conditions at some relief camps due to soaring temperatures, overcrowding, inadequate toilets and a lack of electricity.