Pakistan seeks global help for displaced people in Swat

October 4th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United Nations has revised the assistance for the internally displaced persons (IDPs), who left their homes due to a military operation in Swat and Malakand, by over a million. "The assistance level is above our earlier estimates.

August 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Germany has given Rs.1.17 billion (about $14 million) in aid to Pakistan to help the displaced people in the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the Online news agency reported Friday. The funds will be used to purchase food for the displaced people as part of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

August 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A United Nations official on Wednesday said that about 1.3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have returned to their homes in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, including the Swat Valley. "The best estimate that we can make now is that approximately 1.3 million displaced people have returned home," Pakistan's UN humanitarian coordinator Martin Mogwanja told a press conference here.

August 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has urged the US to provide drone technology to Pakistan, a media report said. He also demanded an end to the US drone attacks inside Pakistan.

July 24th, 2009 Military: Clashes kill 5 militants in NW PakistanISLAMABAD — Security forces say clashes in the troubled Swat Valley and nearby areas in Pakistan's northwest have left five militants and a soldier dead. The military issued a statement Friday saying the deaths occurred during search and clearance operations over the previous 24 hours in various parts of Swat.

July 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the international community should come forward to help the displaced people in the country's northwest battered by the war against the Taliban. The displaced people in the Malakand Division will start returning to their homes from July 13 onwards, the Online news agency said Thursday citing the Pakistani leader.

July 9th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United Nations (UN) has said that the Pakistan government must ensure the safety and security of all those people who have been displaced due to the military offensive in Swat and Malakand Divisions of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), before asking them to return to their homes in the valley. The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, who arrived here on a four day visit, said displaced people must not be forced to return to their homes, and added that the UN is concerned and trying hard to address the problems of over two million homeless people.

June 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, has said that it is too soon for Pakistan to declare victory in the Swat Valley, where the Army has purportedly put the Taliban insurgents on the back foot. Holbrooke, attending a G8 conference on stabilizing Pakistan and Afghanistan in Italy, said in an interview that it was too early for Pakistan to announce victory in Swat.

June 6th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has urged the United States to write off all its debt to help Islamabad overcome the prevalent economic crisis. In a meeting with the US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke here, Gilani said Pakistan has been facing a difficult economic situation primarily due to its participation in the US led 'war on terror'.

May 27th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan security forces Wednesday said they killed 12 more militants in the ongoing operation against Taliban in northwest valley of Swat. Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said one soldiers was also killed and three others wounded during the firefight with the insurgents.

May 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The UN appealed Friday for $454 million in extra aid to help the refugees fleeing Pakistan's latest offensive against Taliban militants in the country's north-west. Nearly 1.5 million people have been displaced by this month's intense fighting in the Swat valley and the neighbouring districts of Buner and Dir, where the Taliban had gained control over large areas.

May 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has said the Army would not be called back from the Swat Valley until peace is restored in the region completely. Addressing an all party meeting here, Gilani said the security forces would only be called back from the region when peace and all the displaced people return to the valley.

May 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Swat military operation against the Taliban and other extremist groups in the region has displaced over 834,000 civilians till now, the United Nations has said. "Some 834,000 IDPs (internally displaced people) have been registered so far.

May 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani has asked the security forces to ensure minimum loss of life of civilians in the Swat operation. General Kayani instructed the Army to plan their movement tactfully with precision strikes, so that little collateral damage is done, The News reports.

May 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - About 700 militants have so far been killed in the ongoing military operation in northern Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Monday, saying the operation would 'continue till elimination of the last terrorist'. Talking to media here after returning from the US, Malik said about '700 militants have been killed and 20 security personnel martyred' in the anti-Taliban offensive in Malakand division, the Daily New reported.