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* Story Highlights
* U.N.: 150,000-200,000 fled to North West Frontier Province in past
few days
* Pakistan's offensive against Taliban has overwhelmed medical resources
* Doctors say hospitals are ill equipped to deal with injuries from
fighting
* Pakistani officials expect as many as 500,000 civilians to flee
the Swat Valley ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The United Nations' refugee agency warned
Friday of a "massive displacement" of civilians as Pakistan's military
broadens its offensive against Taliban militants in the country's
troubled northwest.
Tens of thousands of Pakistani civilians have been forced to abandon
their homes in the past few days. In the last few days, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Pakistanis have
fled to North West Frontier Province, just south of the military
operation, according to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman
Ron Redmond, citing provincial government data. Another 300,000 Pakistanis are on the move or expected to flee the
fighting, he said Friday. The massive displacement is a result of "more widespread" fighting
between Pakistani forces and Taliban militants as well as people taking
"advantage of the partial lifting of curfews to move into safer areas,"
according to a UNHCR news release. Those fleeing the recent fighting are in addition to 555,000 previously
displaced civilians who have fled their homes in Pakistan's tribal
region and North West Frontier Province since August, according to the
U.N. agency. Video Watch as CNN's Ivan Watson tours a refugee camp » Over the past 24 hours, Pakistan's military said its operation had
killed 140 militants -- a dramatic increase from the previous daily
tolls given by the military during operation that began nearly two weeks
ago. The military offensive is overwhelming medical resources in the Swat
Valley, hospital officials said Friday. Mardan Medical Center has treated more than 2,000 patients injured in
the clashes over the past two weeks -- most of them with shrapnel wounds
-- according to Dr. Arshad Ahmed. The hospital has set up two treatment centers near refugee camps that
have been established for those displaced by the fighting. Video Watch
why civilians have backed the Taliban to survive » The fighting has also trapped 40 children at an orphanage in Mingora,
the district capital of Swat, according to Muhammad Ali, the orphanage
director. The children range between the ages of 5 and 17. They have
been hiding in the basement while Pakistani troops stood guard on the
roof of the four-story building, Ali said. They have been trapped inside since Wednesday; 22 of the kids were able
to leave a day later, Ali said. One of the kids who was able to leave -- Muhammad Yousef, 16 -- told CNN
that the conditions inside the orphanage were "bad and intense." "From where we were, I could see the army and the Taliban fighting each
other," Yousef said. "It was tough to try to get out of Swat ... sitting
on buses and trucks. There are still kids inside the building and I pray
that they will come out alive." Fighter jets and helicopter gunships pounded Taliban fighters in Swat
Valley Friday, and a Pakistani military official told CNN that more
troops will join the 12,000 to 15,000 already in the region. Pakistani aircraft attacked a militant position in Tehsil Kabbel, where
the Taliban were occupying two girls' schools. Helicopter gunships fired
on the buildings, killing up to 15 militants and critically injuring
four others, said Maj. Naser Khan, a Pakistani military spokesman. Government forces battled militants in Kanju after the Taliban attacked
an outpost just across the Swat River. After a heavy exchange of fire
between militants and government forces, Khan said, five "hard-core"
militants -- including a commander by the name of Akbar Ali -- were killed. The action comes hours after Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
formally renounced a peace agreement with Taliban militants and
announced "decisive steps" to expand the battle in the country's northwest. The agreement effectively ended several weeks ago, when Taliban
militants violated the deal by refusing to disarm and by advancing into
the Buner district, which is about 60 miles of Islamabad, the nation's
capital. Pakistani troops have battled the Taliban in the Buner and
Lower Dir districts for nearly two weeks.
advertisement The now-defunct peace deal allowed the Taliban to implement Islamic law,
or sharia, in the Swat Valley region in exchange for an end to fighting. "I regret to say that our bona fide intention to prefer reconciliation
with them was perceived as a weakness on our part," Gilani said.
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