Residents in Pakistan's Northwest Flee Violence
By VOA News
05 May 2009
Residents are fleeing a town in northwestern Pakistan after the military warned fighting with Taliban militants could escalate in the region.
Hundreds of panicked residents were seen leaving Swat Valley's main town Tuesday, after the military said militants were patrolling parts of the town and had fired on security forces.
North West Frontier Province's information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain says authorities are establishing camps to house at least 500,000 people expected to evacuate the area.
Pakistani troops launched an offensive against the Taliban last month after militants violated a peace deal in the region that required them to disarm.
Elsewhere in the northwest, Pakistani police say a suicide bomber rammed his car into a military vehicle at a checkpoint near the city of Peshawar, killing at least four civilians and one soldier.
The violence came just a day before U.S. President Barack Obama is set to meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington.
U.S. officials have praised Pakistan's new offensive against Taliban militants in the Malakand region, which includes Swat Valley, Lower Dir and Buner districts.
Pakistani authorities had agreed to allow the Taliban to establish Islamic law in the region in return for an end to insurgent violence. But the military launched its offensive after militants advanced into Buner, 100 kilometers from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
The military said Tuesday that its operation in Buner is "continuing smoothly" and troops are consolidating their positions. The military says more than 170 militants and at least two police officers have been killed in several days of fighting.
The Taliban accuses Pakistan's government of violating the peace deal by attacking militants.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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