ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron) Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch on Wednesday said that the repatriation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan will start from Feb 15.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, the minister said that the process of repatriation and rehabilitation of two million IDPs will be completed within a year and that the government requires Rs100 billion for the same.

Baloch said that IDPs have rendered great sacrifices by giving up their homes during the ongoing war against terrorism for which the entire nation stands united.

The minister said that 90 per cent people of North Waziristan denounce terrorism and want to live in peace in their native areas.

He called upon the countrymen, particularly philanthropists, to come forward to aid and assist in their repatriation.

He said that Pakistan and Afghanistan are on the same page for repatriation of refugees and that the process of repatriation of Afghan refugees would commence as soon the government wants them to be fully repatriated by the end of this year.

Pakistan's army has been fighting local and foreign terrorists in the country's northwestern regions. The action escalated when the army launched Zarb-i-Azb operation in North Waziristan in June last year following a brazen militant attack on Karachi's international airport and failure of peace talks between the government and TTP negotiators.

Another operation 'Operation Khyber I' was launched in Khyber Agency later in October.

North Waziristan and Khyber are among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous regions governed by tribal laws and lying near the Afghan border. Taliban and other Al Qaeda-linked groups that stage attacks in both Pakistan and Afghanistan are also known to have strongholds in the zone.