PARACHINAR: The resource-starved Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) has sought assistance from UN agencies for people displaced by the military operation launched on Sunday against militants in Central Kurram Agency.
According to sources, security forces did not face any resistance and cleared three areas, Manato, Domeki and Gawaki, of militants on Monday.
The operation is named Koh-i-Sofaid after the famous mountain range Spin Ghar (white mountain). An FDMA official told Dawn in Peshawar on Monday that the authority had requested the World Health Organisation and United Nations Children’s Fund to provide emergency medical kits and other facilities for displaced families, but so far it had received no response.
The federal government, the sources said, was yet to send relief goods.
The FDMA said on its website that 6,000 to 8,000 families would be displaced by the operation. The provincial government is providing some relief to people who are arriving at a newly-established camp.
“Currently, the FDMA and political administration are coping with the situation well, but resources will be exhausted soon,” it said.
Officials said that a large number of families from the conflict zone were either staying with their relatives or living in government buildings in Lower Kurram.
It is learnt that thousands of people, including women and children, have arrived in Sadda. They left all their belongings in their homes and are in need of immediate assistance.
The FDMA official said the authority had sent 500 tents and 200 non-food items to the Durrani camp in Lower Kurram. The UNHCR also has provided 500 tents. So far 338 displaced families have been registered at the camp.
Traffic on Thall-Parachinar Road passing through Lower Kurram has been suspended by the administration and a large number of people are stranded in Peshawar and Parachinar.
AFP adds: “More than 1,000 families have been displaced from Central Kurram during the last week,” said Arshad Khan, head of the disaster management authority in the tribal belt.
“We expect around 4,000 more by tomorrow, and estimate that 8,000 to 12,000 families could be displaced due to this military action,” he said.
Mr Khan said that of those displaced from Kurram, about 250 families had gone to a camp while the rest were seeking shelter with relatives.
Another official working with the government in the area said that 600 families had been registered after leaving Kurram.
“We have arranged food and non-food items for them,” local administration chief Sahibzada Muhammad Anees said.
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