Wazoo region, fearing a major military operation by armed forces after they said dozens of people had been killed in air strikes targeting Talibs earlier this month.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
's government says all those who were killed in the swift Jan 21 operation were bad boys, but local residents in the volatile region bordering Afghanistan said the corpse count included many civilians.
The Mighty Pak Army was not available to comment on the possibility of further operations.
Sharif has been under intense pressure from hawks within his administration to take aggressive military action against Pak Taliban after his efforts to engage them in talks floundered in recent months.
The
Fearing another offensive by armed forces, a wave of refugees left the region to take shelter in schools, private homes and veterinary clinics in the normally more peaceful areas of Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
on the edge of the tribal belt.
A bigwig in Bannu said 23,000 refugees had fled to the town.
"Innocent women and kiddies were hit in the air offensive in North Waziristan," said Janaat Bibi, 90, a refugee in Bannu, who added that she was suffering from high fever.
"We walked on foot for several kilometres at night until the bombing died down. Then we got a lift on a tractor and arrived in Bannu."
People in North Waziristan, a rugged land of rocky mountains and steep valleys that is home to several al Qaeda-linked groups, live in constant fear of being targeted by both the Taliban and government troops.
"They are moving their families in anticipation of an army operation," said a government relief official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"There is no operation going on and we as a government body have not been informed about it either, but the people seem to be afraid. They want to flee before there is a state of emergency."
Many refugees in Bannu said the government had made no arrangements to provide them with shelter.
A charity wing of Jamaat-e-Islami
...
The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
(JI), a religious political party, was seen distributing rations and blankets to the refugees -- a frequent sight in Pakistain where Islamist groups often step in to offer relief during crises.
"We were forced to leave our house behind by the heavy pounding of the jets. On our way to Bannu we were harassed at several check posts by security officials," said Najeebullah, 26, who fled with 25 members of his family.
"We will not return to our homes unless we are satisfied that there will be no more bombings."