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1.65 million displaced Pakistanis return home: UN

The number of Pakistanis who returned home since fleeing a recent military offensive against the Taliban has increased to 1.65 million, a UN official said Thursday.

The offensive forced 1.9 million civilians from their homes in northwest Pakistan. Most sheltered with relatives and the rest crowded into refugee camps, creating a humanitarian crisis A humanitarian crisis (or "humanitarian disaster") is an event or series of events which represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or wellbeing of a community or other large group of people, usually over a wide area.  for impoverished Pakistan.

"According to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3.
 latest figures from the government, about 1.65 people have gone back to their areas of origin," Pakistan's UN humanitarian coordinator The title of United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator is performed by a senior United Nations official, in those country where there is a humanitarian crisis, or emerging humanitarian needs.  Martin Mogwanja told a press conference in Islamabad.

"More than 235,159 families have returned home as of September 8," said a separate UN statement, with around 25,279 families still living in various displacement camps.

A senior official from UN Children's Agency UNICEF UNICEF (y`nĭsĕf'), the United Nations Children's Fund, an affiliated agency of the United Nations.  said 550 primary and secondary schools were destroyed or partially damaged during the conflict in the northwest area of Malakand, which is home to about three million people.

Of the 550 schools, 147 were for girls, Luc Chauvin said.

Chauvin said UNICEF was working on an initiative to benefit 532,000 children and provide temporary learning spaces, educational supplies and teacher training for those children affected by the conflict.

UNICEF still supports 8,000 displaced children in the camps, he said.

Pakistan launched the military operation in the districts of Buner, Lower Dir and Swat Swat (swät), district of the Malakand division, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. Saidu Sharif is the capital. The largely inaccessible region is reached by air and through mountain passes from the south and east.  after Taliban gunmen advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad last April in defiance of a peace deal.

Pakistan's military says it has now cleared the districts of insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon.  and the government has sponsored the displaced to return.

But skirmishes continue, raising fears that the Taliban are regrouping in the mountains, a tactic militants adopted after offensives in the past.

Swat slipped out of government control after radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah mounted a violent campaign in which his followers beheaded be·head  
tr.v. be·head·ed, be·head·ing, be·heads
To separate the head from; decapitate.



[Middle English biheden, from Old English beh
 opponents, burnt schools and fought against government troops to enforce sharia law.

Pakistan says more than 1,900 militants and over 167 security personnel were killed in the offensive but the tolls are impossible to verify independently.
Copyright 2009 AFP South Asian Edition
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
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Author:AFP
Publication:AFP South Asian Edition
Date:Sep 10, 2009
Words:331
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