ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Tuesday it was racing to help refugees fleeing Swat – an exodus of some 1.5 million with a speed and size the UN said could rival the displacement caused by Rwanda’s genocide.

Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmed, who leads a group tasked with dealing with the uprooted Pakistanis, told reporters that the government had enough flour and other food for the displaced but said it needed donations of fans and high energy biscuits. He also said the refugees would get money and free transport when it was safe enough to return.

A ‘camp is not a replacement for home,’ Ahmed said, adding there are at least 22 relief camps operating.

Pakistan’s will to take on the militants will falter depending on the fate of its displaced citizens, many now stuck in the sweltering camps.

UN officials said on Monday that nearly 1.5 million people had fled their homes in Pakistan this month.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Monday that infantry troops were moving into the main towns of the region after three weeks of mostly aerial bombardment of insurgent positions, camps and training grounds in the hills.

He said the army wanted a ‘quick and speedy operation so we can clear the area and allow the internally displaced people to return.’