Pakistan to begin return of displaced next week

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan will start bringing people displaced by fighting between security forces and Taliban militants in the northwestern Swat Valley back home from next week, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday.

About 2 million people have fled their homes since the army began an offensive against the Taliban in their bastion of Swat, a former tourist valley northwest of Islamabad, in late April.

Most of the displaced are living with family or friends in "host communities" and about 280,000 are in tent camps. They and their plight are sensitive issues for a government that critics say is bowing to U.S. pressure to battle the militants.

"The displaced men, women and children will begin returning to their homes with dignity from July 13," Gilani told a news conference.

Government officials say more than 1,700 militants and nearly 160 soldiers have been killed in the fighting, launched two months ago after militant aggression and advances prompted concern over the stability of Pakistan and its nuclear arsenal. Independent casualty estimates are not available.

The United States, grappling with an intensifying Taliban insurgency in neighboring Afghanistan, has welcomed Pakistan's action against the militants.

The army has pushed the militants out of Swat's towns and it controls the main lines of communication, but clashes are flaring daily in some areas.

None of the top militant leaders in the area have been among those killed, leading to fears the fighters could re-emerge. The military said on Wednesday that the Taliban leader in Swat, Fazlullah, had been wounded in an air strike on Monday.

On Thursday, security forces killed "a few" militants and arrested 25 during a mop-up operation in Swat, the military said.

Public backing for the offensive against the Taliban is strong, but some analysts say the government is encouraging people uprooted by fighting to return home because of the risk that a prolonged displacement could undermine that goodwill.

SECURITY WORRIES

However, U.N. Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes on Wednesday said Pakistan needed to ensure appropriate conditions, especially security, before encouraging displaced people to go home.

Gilani said the government had restored utilities and infrastructure in Swat and had taken measures to provide security to the people.

But he cautioned that sporadic incidents of violence could not be ruled out in Swat because of the prevailing security situation in the entire country.

Militants have carried out a series of suicide bombings and bomb attacks around the country in retaliation for the Swat offensive.

In the latest such attack, a remote-controlled bomb went off close to a vehicle carrying security forces in the northwestern town of Bannu, wounding six soldiers, police said.

The military is also slowly preparing to mount an all-out assault on South Waziristan, a major militant sanctuary on the Afghan border and power base of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.

"Sporadic incidents of terrorism do take place in other parts of the country. So (Swat) is also part of Pakistan and that can also take place there, despite our best ability," Gilani said.