The International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday said it has entered Buner in northern Pakistan, one of the hardest hit areas in the conflict zone, for the first time since fighting broke out. "With the consent of the parties to the conflict, ICRC staff took stock of the humanitarian situation and delivered medicines and surgical materials to the main hospital in the district," said the ICRC in a statement.
The relief agency said it hoped to bring more aid to the civilians caught in the battle between the military and the Taliban "in the coming days." "We went into Buner as soon as we could," said Bart Janssens, the ICRC's health co-ordinator in Pakistan who led the operation.
"You can see the scars of recent fighting. There is no more electricity or clean drinking water. Most shops are closed. Goods on the market are scarce. The streets feel empty. The district is rapidly being emptied of its inhabitants." UN chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed "deep concern" about the situation in the area, where the UN refugee agency said 670,906 stranded people had registered. That amounted to an increase of around 170,000 people who signed up in the last 24 hours, on top of about half a million people displaced in the past.