By IRNA,
Islamabad : Thousands of people are feeling away from insurgency hit Swat valley in northern Pakistan to take refuge after the army has launched a massive operation against militants.
The displaced persons are taking shelter in makeshift camps under appalling conditions, prompting concerns over a humanitarian crisis.
A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Ron Redmond, has said in Geneva that up to 200,000 people have arrived in safe areas in the past few days and that another 300,000 are on the move or are about to flee.
Swat valley had been peaceful for the past two months after a deal was signed by Sufi Muhammad, leader of the banned ‘Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Mohammadi’ (TNSM) and the government in North West Frontier Province.
Taliban led by Maulana Fazlullah in Swat declared ceasefire after the agreement, the security forces also stopped offensive against the militants. However the troops remained in the region.
Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting between Taliban and military in past ten months.
NATO after the ceasefire had feared that the agreement would only serve to allow militants to regroup and to create a safe haven for cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.
Amnesty International had also expressed its concern that the agreement would legitimize human rights abuses in the region.
Under the compromise deal banned ‘Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) had assured the provincial government that it will convince local Taliban to stop terrorism in the country while the provincial government had assured the organisation of abolishing prevailing laws in the entire Malakand Division including Swat and replacing them with Shariah law.
The announcement of the government to introduce Shariah laws had increased hopes among the people of the troubled area. However, the deal began unraveling last month when Swat Taliban fighters moved into Buner, a neighboring district just 60 miles away from Islamabad.
The proposed Shariah law in Swat became more controversial when a video tape regarding the flogging of a teenage-girl was shown in the media as it reflected inhuman actions of alleged Taliban in Swat.
Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani in an address to the nation has called for ‘decisive action’ to root out militants from Swat valley.
However the announcement has received mixed reactions from mainstream and religious parties across the nation.
Pakistan army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has told top commanders that the security forces will ensure to maintain dominance over the militants.
Military operations are taking place in three districts that stretch over some 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometers). Much of the fighting has been in the Swat Valley’s main city of Mingora, a militant hub that was home to around 360,000 people before the insurgency two years ago.
The military says that more than 150 militants and several soldiers have been killed since the offensive began last week.
Militants infiltrated into Swat in 2007 from strongholds on the Afghan border to the west to support cleric Sufi Mohammad.
In recent years, militant groups in the Swat valley, led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah, began attacking and killing civilians as well as police check posts in Swat.
Many in Pakistan’s government recognise that extremist elements pose a threat to its authority and must be brought under control.
Several past deals with militants have failed and the government has been criticised by the US for giving time to militants to re-group.
A peace pact signed by the Taliban and the NWFP government in May last year collapsed within months.