UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations said on Friday that there had been new outflows of people from South Waziristan this week in anticipation of military operation against insurgents.

According to one report, over 250, 000 people have fled South Waziristan so far.

Andrej Mahecic, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that as of early September, more than 80,000 displaced people from South Waziristan had been registered by local authorities in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank areas of the NWFP.

Earlier this year, more than two million Pakistanis were displaced by the conflict between government forces and insurgents in the NWFP. Many of them have since returned to their homes.

The UNHCR said that in recent days, local authorities have begun registering new arrivals, with more than 800 families registered over the past three days out of an estimated 2,000 families that have moved into the area.

‘While some of the movement from South Waziristan may be seasonal migration, most families say they are fleeing expected bombardments,’ said Mr Mahecic .

‘If full-scale military operations are launched, the numbers of displaced people are likely to rise significantly.’