Around 135,000 residents have fled a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan to escape clashes between troops and Taliban militants that have left scores dead, officials said Thursday. The officials said that up to half of the population of some villages in the troubled Bajaur tribal district had moved, although militants were stopping people from leaving some areas.
"We have around 135,000 people who have left their homes there," the additional chief secretary for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Habibullah Khan, told AFP. "We have directed officials in adjoining districts to provide shelter, food and health care to the migrating families. We are setting up more camps to help these people just like refugees," he said.