Over 570k displaced in Pakistan army operations: Official

The number of people who have been displaced as a result of the Pakistani army’s ongoing military campaign against Taliban militants in North Waziristan province has exceeded 570,000, an official says.

Speaking in a press conference on Friday, Syed Mohsin Ali, Commissioner of Bannu, a town along Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, said 5,72,5295 people, belonging to 44,600 families have been registered so far as Internally Displaced Persons (IDP).

He also noted that some 28,000 families have been each provided with the financial support of Rs 12,000 (USD 121).

Meanwhile, Brigadier Aftab, an army spokesman in Bannu, stated that that more than 70 percent of the displaced people in the region were provided with essential items such as food.

The Pakistani army began the offensive against militant hideouts in the volatile North Waziristan tribal region on June 15.

The operation came after a raid by the pro-Taliban militants on Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on June 8, in which 37 people were killed. On June 9, the militants also carried out another attack on a training center outside the airport in Karachi.

Pro-Taliban militants have carried out numerous attacks against security forces as well as civilians and managed to spread their influence in various regions of the country, despite sporadic offensives by the Pakistani army.