Thousands flee Swat Valley as army moves in to tackle militants

Thousands of people have begun fleeing Pakistan’s troubled Swat Valley in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) following an announcement by security forces calling on residents to leave their homes.

The move appears timed to coincide with a major military offensive set to take place over the coming days against Taliban militants operating in the area.

“The authorities made the announcement in Kabal last night,” Mohammad Munir, district manager for Pakistan’s Red Crescent Society in Swat, told IRIN from the village of Totanobandai, on 20 November. Kabal lies 10km northwest of Mingora, the district’s largest city, and has some 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants.

“Every vehicle now leaving Kabal is full of people and their luggage,” Munir said, describing the situation as “tense”.

There are reports of many women and children trudging up the mountain road because of lack of transport - with van owners jacking up fares in light of the demand - while in the upper parts of Swat District residents are reportedly facing food shortages as a result of road closures.

Swat Valley has seen an upsurge in violence between government forces and followers of Islamic religious leader Maulana Fazlullah who are calling for a holy war against the government and the establishment of their strict version of Sharia law.

More on Swat

Militants threaten to burn Swat camp

'Holy war' displacing Swat locals

Villagers flee conflict-hit Swat

Polio vaccination campaign put off in conflict-hit Swat

Education the first casualty in Swat

Kabal is near a large army camp, which has witnessed a steady build-up of soldiers in recent days - now numbering in the thousands.

Residents flee several towns

While the public announcement to leave was only made in Kabal, residents in neighbouring towns and villages are also heeding the warning.

In the town of Hazara, 10km northeast of Mingora, with a similar population to Kabal’s, people were also leaving, as they were in the neighbouring towns of Koza Banda and Bara Banda - both of which have a population of around 40,000.

“So many people are leaving from there as well. People are afraid,” Munir said, adding that the nearby town of Dharai was now almost deserted.

Those with economic means are leaving the valley completely, even going to the capital, Islamabad, while the vast majority opt to stay with relatives and friends in areas or larger towns deemed safer - making accurate estimates of the scale of the displacement virtually impossible.

IDP camp empty

As of 20 November, a displaced persons camp with a capacity of up to 5,000 families set up earlier by the authorities in the town of Barikot, 20km outside Saidu Sharif, the district capital, remains empty following threats by local Taliban elements.

Photo: Google Maps

A map of Pakistan and the surrounding region highlighting Swat District

“People are still afraid to go there,” the Pakistan Red Crescent Society’s Munir said, adding that, there were at least two or three families now staying in every house in his village.

Last week, Maj-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, director-general of military operations for the Pakistan army, told the media he hoped the mountainous Swat area, once popular with tourists, would be re-opened by the end of December. He gave every indication a major military offensive was imminent.

“Our bases have been strengthened in Mingora and Besham and we are going to launch a major operation,” he was quoted as saying in Rawalpindi. “The operation will start any time from now. The concept is to clear Swat of militants.”

Increased shelling

Meanwhile, the past few days have seen increased artillery shelling in the area - further driving people’s desire to leave the area.

Over the weekend, helicopter gun-ships and artillery reportedly continued targeting Koza Banda and Bara Banda; areas known to be extending support to Fazlullah, while helicopters hovered over other areas of Swat and Shangla districts.

“The shelling has increased over the past five or six days. Definitely it’s increased,” Munir said. “There is shelling on almost every side of the valley now,” he said.

And while the army says this is targeted shelling, there are reports that a number of shells have gone astray.

Two kilometres from Munir’s home, three civilians were killed, including two women and a child, and six people were injured when a rocket fell on their house while they were sleeping. “They were civilians, simply civilians,” Munir said.

ds/at/cb