Pakistan border attacks create 190,000 refugees

Nearly 190,000 people are said to have fled fighting between Pakistani troops and Taliban andal-Qa'ida fighters near the border with Afghanistan, the United Nations refugee agency said yesterday.

The number included more than 20,000 Pakistanis and Afghans who had fled into eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province since early August. Pakistan said 1,000 militants have been killed in its offensive in the Bajaur border region.

Citing Pakistani statistics, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees stated that 168,463 people had fled to other parts of north-western Pakistan during the offensive. The UNHCR reported no rise in Afghans returning to their homeland following a ruling by Pakistan that 50,000 Afghans in Bajur must go home by 11 October.

Authorities said they suspected Afghans living in the region were helping insurgents, and threatened to bulldoze their homes. Militants in Bajaur are blamed for rising attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan and suicide bombings in Pakistan. The region is believed to be a possible hideout for Osama bin Laden.