ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s allies promised $224 million in aid for about 1.5 million people displaced by an offensive against the Taliban after the government warned that the militants could exploit a failure to help.

The military launched an offensive this month in the Swat Valley and neighbouring districts to stop the spread of a Taliban insurgency.

The United Nations has warned of a long-term humanitarian crisis and called for massive aid for the displaced, who have joined about 555,000 people forced from their homes by earlier fighting in the northwest.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the donors’ conference in Islamabad that Pakistan was issuing an urgent call for help from ‘all those who are committed to fighting terrorism.’

Aid for the displaced would help win the battle against the Taliban, he said.

‘It would also help in ensuring that the militants don’t exploit the vulnerability of the displaced population. We have to win the hearts and minds of the people,’ he said.

Addressing representatives of international donors, the prime minister referred to ‘grave repercussions’ as a result of the mass exodus of residents forced to flee their homes in the northwest.

‘Given the magnitude of the task that lies ahead, the government of Pakistan would like to seek the support from the donor community, both for the ongoing relief efforts and for the rebuilding process,’ said the prime minister.

‘We need to do something concrete and visible,’ Gilani said.

The United Nations says around 1.5 million people have been displaced since May 2 during Pakistan’s latest military onslaught against the Taliban, bringing to around two million the number displaced since last August.

Gilani said a special prime minister’s fund had been established for the internally displaced and called for domestic and international donations.

Thursday’s meeting comes with the United Nations set to launch a humanitarian programme in response to the crisis.

Pakistan has allocated two billion rupees to the North West Frontier Province government for relief efforts, but critics warn that is a fraction of the money needed for reconstruction and law enforcement.

Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar later told reporters donors had promised $224 million, including $110 million the United States promised on Tuesday.

That sum would go towards a flash appeal that the United Nations will launch on Friday in a bid to raise up to $600 million, she said.

Khar noted the latest call for aid comes amid the global financial crisis and a degree of ‘donor fatigue’ just weeks after donors promised Pakistan more than $5 billion.

‘By and large, we are very satisfied with the donors’ response,’ Khar said.

The US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday approved tripling US economic aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year for each of the next five years, including money for Pakistani schools, the judicial system, parliament and law enforcement agencies.

Politicians and members of the public broadly back the offensive, but support will quickly evaporate if many civilians are killed or if the displaced languish in misery.

About 15,000 members of the security forces are fighting between 4,000 and 5,000 militants in Swat, the military says.

Pakistan says more than 1,000 militants and more than 50 soldiers have been killed in the fighting.

The estimate of militant casualties has not been independently confirmed. Reporters have left Swat and communications with remaining residents there have been disrupted.