EXCERPT: "Thousands of people displaced by conflict in Bajaur Agency, one of seven tribal territories on the Pakistani-Afghan border, have returned to find damaged homes, limited services, sporadic fighting and little assistance from the government or UN agencies. 'The situation there [in Bajaur] is grim. There are shortages of food, prices fluctuate and medicines are often not available. I have come here [Peshawar] to buy some painkillers prescribed for my mother who has arthritis and a few other items so we can set up home again,' Wali Khan Uthmankhel, 40, said. Fighting between the army and militants had forced his seven-member family to leave their home in Khar, the principle town in Bajaur Agency, a year ago and find shelter in Peshawar, capital of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. Like thousands of other internally displaced persons (IDPs), they returned to Khar in the past few weeks following announcements from provincial authorities and the military that most areas of Bajaur had been cleared of militants. The news led to the closure of two IDP camps in Lower Dir district in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa and more than 4,000 IDPs returning from there, according to a 25 June update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). [...] The OCHA update said a funding crunch was limiting aid agencies’ ability to deliver assistance in some areas."
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Related articles:
Pakistan starts resettling South Waziristan tribes, AFP, 27 June 2010
Mahsud elders want infrastructure in S Waziristan, The News International, 20 June 2010
Related posts:
Taliban "reappear" in Bajaur, issue threats, 16 June 2010
Aid program for IDPs under threat: UN, 18 May 2010
Pakistan displacement figures for 2009 at record high: Report, 17 May 2010
53 villages cleared in Bajaur, 20 April 2010
Peace returns to Bajaur, 17 March 2010
