30,000 flee Pakistan offensive against Taleban

BANNU: Around 30,000 people fled a major military offensive against the Taleban in a Pakistani tribal area Wednesday, after authorities eased a curfew in a sign the campaign is likely to intensify.
The military has deployed troops, tanks and jets in North Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan, in a long-awaited crackdown on the Taleban and other militants in the tribal area.
Adding to the pressure on the insurgents, two US drone strikes hit compounds in the area early on Wednesday. The military eased a curfew in parts of North Waziristan to let civilians leave, indicating a new and more intense phase of the anti-militant drive in which ground forces will play a greater role.
Tens of thousands of people had already fled the operation, which the military says has killed more than 200 militants, and a fresh exodus is under way.
“Some 30,000 people arrived in Bannu from Mir Ali town of North Waziristan since this morning,” Arshad Khan, director general of the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) Disaster Management Authority, told AFP.
Khan said 92,000 people have now fled North Waziristan since the military began air strikes against the Taleban last month.
Most have gone t o the town of Bannu, just across the border from North Waziristan in neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and a traditional haven for those fleeing violence in the tribal area.