Fighting forces 20,000 to flee

Published on 29/09/2008 22:24

FIGHTING between Pakistani troops and militants in a tribal region has forced some 20,000 Pakistanis to seek refuge across the border in Afghanistan, the UN has revealed.

Nearly 4,000 families have fled from Bajur into Afghanistan's Kunar province, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said. Bajur is the most northerly of Pakistan's wild tribal regions.

Officials say the fighting in Bajur has displaced as many as 500,000 people. Most are sheltering with relatives across north-western Pakistan, though about 100,000 have taken refuge in camps.

Pakistan's army claims to have killed more than 1,000 militants in the two-month-old offensive.