Here Are the Real Victims of Pakistan’s War on the Taliban

An elderly displaced man carries a sack of rations on his shoulder. The Pakistan Army has distributed 30,000 ration packs of 110 kg each. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPSBy Ashfaq YusufzaiPESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jul 1 2014 (IPS) Three days ago, Rameela Bibi was the mother of a month-old baby boy. He died in her arms on Jun. 28, of a chest infection that he contracted when the family fled their home in Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency, where a full-scale military offensive against the Taliban has forced nearly half a million people to flee. Weeping uncontrollable, Bibi struggles to recount her story. “My son was born on Jul. 2 in our own home,” the 39-year-old woman tells IPS. “He was healthy and beautiful. If we hadn’t been displaced, he would still be alive today.” “My wife is expected to deliver a baby within a fortnight, But the doctors say the child will be premature due to the stressful journey we undertook to get here." -- Jalal Akbar, a former resident of the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan AgencyBut Bibi does not have the luxury of grieving long for her little boy. Soon she will have to dry her eyes and begin the grim task of providing for herself and her two young daughters, who now comprise some of the 468,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) seeking refuge from the Pakistan army’s airstrikes on the militant-infested mountainous regions that border Afghanistan. Launched on Jun. 15, the army’s campaign was partly motivated by terrorist attacks on the...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Aid Armed Conflicts Asia-Pacific Development & Aid Economy & Trade Editors' Choice Environment Featured Food & Agriculture Gender Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Migration & Refugees Population Povert Source Type: news