Pakistanis Flee Tribal Zone as Army Prepares Assault on Taliban

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Source: Bloomberg

Pakistanis Flee Tribal Zone as Army Prepares Assault on Taliban

By Khalid Qayum and Michael Heath

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of Pakistani civilians fled a tribal zone bordering Afghanistan as the military prepared an offensive to drive Taliban insurgents from the area.

“We are expecting hundreds of thousands to flee the region when the operation starts,” Adnan Khan, a spokesman for the relief commission of North West Frontier Province, said today by telephone from the provincial capital, Peshawar.

The military said yesterday it is in the “preparatory stage” of an offensive in South Waziristan, a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

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“We have information on where he is and we will not give him any chance to escape,” Malik told the newspaper. A missile strike from a suspected U.S. drone hit South Waziristan today, Agence France-Presse reported, citing an unnamed Pakistani security official.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=ak3skBJ7nECY