Caught in the crossfire of war against the Taliban

Displaced families who fled Waziristan arrive in Dera Ismail Khan

Pakistan's military offensive has driven thousands of refugees to the frontier town of Dera Ismail Khan. Omar Waraich witnesses their plight


Gul Hassan is incandescent with rage. As the Pakistan military mounted its most ambitious anti-Taliban offensive yet, the farmer and his family were not ready. "Bombs were falling all around us," he recalls, gesturing animatedly. "We were very scared. We didn't know what was going to happen to us."

Soon after dawn, Mr Hassan and his extended family began a perilous three-day journey down from the militant-controlled mountains near Shakai in South Waziristan. After enduring hours of foot-slogging, all 33 members of the family somehow managed to pile into a single truck. Scenting opportunity, the driver charged £350, all the cash they could muster, for the journey.

Now, they are among more than 100,000 bedraggled refugees who have shambled their way down to this wild and dusty frontier town in the faint hope of finding comfort. As the army pushes deeper into South Waziristan, encountering fierce resistance from an estimated 10,000 Taliban guerrillas along the way, a fresh humanitarian crisis is slowly unfolding.