The United Nations is preparing to assist an estimated 150,000 Pakistanis who could be displaced in the event of a full-scale military operation against a Taliban stronghold, officials said Wednesday. In June, officials said up to 45,000 people had left their homes in South Waziristan, many fearing a Pakistan offensive against Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud, who is now believed to have died in a US drone attack last week.
"The estimates that we have now and the working figure that we are using is that the number of displaced could rise somewhere between 90 (thousand) to 150,000," UN humanitarian co-ordinator Martin Mogwanja told a press conference. "The number of IDPs (internally displaced persons) eventually depends on the scale and the nature of the military operations," he added.
The United Nations and aid workers have stockpiled supplies at a logistical base in the Bhakkar district of Punjab, the province adjacent to districts that in turn neighbour the wild, semi-autonomous mountains of South Waziristan. "Now currently we are undergoing a registration exercise of those who are already displaced or those who decided not to return to their summer homes in South Waziristan," Mogwanja said.
Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal regions are hubs for Taliban and al Qaeda fighters who escaped the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan that ousted the Taliban regime in Kabul. The United States, which has been a vocal supporter of Pakistan's fight against the Taliban in the north-west - alleges that al Qaeda fighters are holed up in the region plotting attacks on Western targets.
Mogwanja said more than 800,000 displaced people had returned to north-west districts Buner and Swat, after a summer offensive, with 1.2 million still living in host communities and another 165,000 were still in camps. The military claims to have largely defeated Taliban in Swat and Buner since launching an operation in late April, but talk of waging a large ground offensive in South Waziristan has not been matched by events on the ground.