BBC News, Kabul
Hundreds of families, comprising some 6,000 mainly women and children, have been crossing the border.
The UN refugee agency says clashes between Pakistan's Shia and Sunni groups have forced people to flee.
It is the first time so many people have crossed this way as for years it was Afghans fleeing fighting.
| | It's the first time that we see this in very large numbers Salvatore Lombardo, UNHCR |
The refugees have been crossing the border between Pakistan's tribal areas and south-eastern Afghan provinces.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says historic clashes between Shias and Sunnis in the villages in Kurram, North West Frontier Province, have escalated in the past couple of weeks.
This and the unstable situation in that part of Pakistan have led to the movement of so many people, the UNHCR says.
"It's the first time that we see this in very large numbers which shows that security in those areas has seriously deteriorated and it's probably become out of control," said Salvatore Lombardo, a UNHCR representative in Kabul.
He said many of the people had been given shelter in Afghanistan by villagers who live by the Pashtun Valley tribal code of hospitality, and tents were being handed out to help provide shelter as winter was intensifying along the border.
Discussions
Over the past three decades millions of Afghans fled the violence in their country during the Soviet occupation, the civil war and then in the fighting that saw the Taleban take control of Afghanistan.
With the rise of the Pakistani Taleban and militant Islamic groups along the Pakistan side of the border, the UN says it now appears that parts of Afghanistan are safer for families.
It is hoped discussions within the tribal groups can resolve the situation and allow the people to return home.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7174294.stm
Wow, how bad does the security situation in Western Pakistan have to be that people are fleeing into Afghanistan for safety? The question now would seem to be not if Pakistan will collapse into civil war but when. Not promising; not at all.
4 comments:
Wow, this is the first time I've heard this. This is disturbing... However, these areas of Pakistan have always been fairly lawless. Even at it's most stable, the government still had very little influence here.
Will this remain an isolated phenomenon in the wilds of Pakistan? Or will it spread and engulf an already fragile country? I hope we're watching the situation closely... and I think we need a plan in place to get those nuclear weapons OUT of Pakistan and into the protective custody of a neutral third party, at least until the dust settles, and there's some level of stability there again.
Wait, I know! We could invade the country, secure the weapons, and establish a democratic, western-leaning secular government. The troops will be greeted as liberators and prosperity and democracy will flow from the newly erected Pakistani republic.
In all seriousness, and this is going to sound really, really perverse, nuclear weapons may offer some benefit to the situation as they will likely deter an opportunistic states from sending troops across the border to "stabilize" the situation, "protect co-ethnics," or otherwise profit off of the instability. India, Iran, I am looking at you. US, you keep your grubby mitts off as well.
Oh, and for anyone interested in Pakistan and civil violence I suggest they should also look into the insurgency in the Baluchistan region. Man, Pakistan sure can foment some dissatisfied people.
Well, that's not as perverse as it sounds. As we've mentioned before, nuclear weapons have a tendency to level the playing field, and force two nation states to make nice with each other out of fear of mutual assured destruction.
The problem is, if those nuclear weapons find themselves in the custody of a group that isn't particularly concernd with their own destruction, well...
To be perfectly honest, desintigrating might very well be best thing to happen to Pakistan. Like most middle eastern countries, it was formed using artificial border by colonial powers, totally ignoring the historical, cultural, and ethnic divisions that existed before they arrived and planted a flag.
But desintigrating while there are dozens of nuclear weapons that need to be accounted for, well, that's not a pleasant thought, especially with so many Pro-Taliban members of the government and national security agency.
Ugh... what a world!
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