GENEVA: The Red Cross on Friday warned that relief workers were being kept out of Pakistan’s embattled region of South Waziristan where the civilian toll is believed to be mounting sharply.

Several conflict areas in northern Pakistan were largely out of bounds to aid workers, who faced ‘very heavy restrictions on access,’ mainly due to heavy fighting, a senior official at the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

Evidence from people who managed to flee those areas, especially South Waziristan, suggested that the number of civilian casualties had surged, ICRC head of operations for south Asia Jacques de Maio added.

‘What we see now is a sharp and extremely worrying increase in the number of civilian casualties,’ he told journalists.

‘Aid must reach those who need it. We see effective and unobstructed medical services for the sick and wounded as imperative, followed by assistance to IDPs (internally displaced people) and host families.’ To achieve this... humanitarian access must expand and reach a meaningful level,’ de Maio added.

The ICRC said that in both North West Frontier Province and South Waziristan there was little knowledge of ‘what exactly is going on’ and the exact needs, but it feared for the worst.

‘What we know is that we don’t know much,’ said de Maio.

‘We know that there are reports to be verified of 50,000 people who fled recently. There might be room for concern that should this dynamic of violence continue there could be more than 150,000 people moving out,’ he added.

Officials say at least 137 militants and 18 soldiers have been killed since the South Waziristan offensive began Saturday and more than 120,000 civilians have fled the war zone.

Pakistan has vowed to crush Taliban extremists, unleashing a major ground and air offensive in their South Waziristan stronghold along the Afghan border, where Al-Qaida is accused of plotting attacks on the West.— AFP