Islamabad: Over 50 per cent of the total three lakh residents of Mingora, the main city in Pakistan's restive Swat valley, have left their homes due to heavy fighting between the Army and Taliban in the region.
The people are using whatever transport they could find trucks, buses, motorcycles, donkey carts and even bicycles to flee to safety in other parts of the North West Frontier Province, Provincial Environment Minister Wajid Ali Khan said.
"More than 50 per cent of the total population of Mingora has fled and proceeded to (relief camps in Mardan and Swabi)," Khan told a state-run news agency.
Despite the operation by security forces backed by artillery, tanks and gunship helicopters, most of Mingora continues to be controlled by the Taliban.
International aid agencies have said Pakistan is facing an imminent humanitarian crisis as the fighting has triggered the largest refugee problem since the creation of the country in 1947.
An official at the office of the Provincial Relief Commissioner in Peshawar said about 550,000 internally displaced persons are living in relief camps across the NWFP.
Only 25 per cent of the displaced are living in relief camps and the remainder are living with relatives in keeping with the Pashtun tradition of hospitality and tribal customs, Environment Minister Khan said.
Teams of the National Disaster Management Authority have been deployed along with representatives of UN humanitarian agencies to help the civil administration in coping with the crisis.
The people are using whatever transport they could find trucks, buses, motorcycles, donkey carts and even bicycles to flee to safety in other parts of the North West Frontier Province, Provincial Environment Minister Wajid Ali Khan said.
"More than 50 per cent of the total population of Mingora has fled and proceeded to (relief camps in Mardan and Swabi)," Khan told a state-run news agency.
Despite the operation by security forces backed by artillery, tanks and gunship helicopters, most of Mingora continues to be controlled by the Taliban.
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International aid agencies have said Pakistan is facing an imminent humanitarian crisis as the fighting has triggered the largest refugee problem since the creation of the country in 1947.
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An official at the office of the Provincial Relief Commissioner in Peshawar said about 550,000 internally displaced persons are living in relief camps across the NWFP.
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Only 25 per cent of the displaced are living in relief camps and the remainder are living with relatives in keeping with the Pashtun tradition of hospitality and tribal customs, Environment Minister Khan said.
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Teams of the National Disaster Management Authority have been deployed along with representatives of UN humanitarian agencies to help the civil administration in coping with the crisis.
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