Hundreds of thousands flee Pakistan fighting (could reach 1 million)

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

MINGORA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani jets screamed over a Taliban-controlled town Friday and bombed suspected militant positions as hundreds of thousands fled in terror and other trapped residents appealed for a pause in the fighting so they could escape.

A half a million people have either already left the Swat Valley and nearby districts or want to leave but can't because of the fighting, Pakistani officials and the U.N. say, bringing the number of people likely to be displaced due to anti-militant offensives across Pakistan's volatile northwest region to 1 million.

Pakistan has launched at least a dozen operations in the region near the Afghan border in recent years, but most ended inconclusively and after widespread destruction and significant civilian deaths.

The mountainous region remains a haven for al-Qaida and Taliban militants, foreign governments say.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkiMxbHNH0BqgpWA2ZG6VD6wVTmAD9823KI84

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A humanitarian disaster, because the Pakistani government didn't address the Taliban problem sooner.

[leftynyc]

1. I haven't read that

the Pakistani government is helping these people and finding refuge for them - or at the very least protecting them from the Taliban barbarians. The government and the military of Pakistan has quite the dilemma in front of them - it's not going to be easy and loyalties will be tested. As far as I'm concerned, this is the biggest foreign policy story right now.