Pakistan fears exodus from Swat

[kingkong]

Al Jazeera English - CENTRAL/S. ASIA - Pakistan fears exodus from Swat




Camps have been set up for those residents
displaced by the fighting [AFP]



Up to half a million Pakistanis living in the Swat valley could be forced flee amid fierce fighting between Taliban fighters and the military, the Pakistan goverment has said.

Thousands of people fled the main town of Mingora in the valley, part of the North West Frontier Province, on Tuesday after being told to leave by government officials.

Men, women and children piled onto pick-up trucks in their haste to flee the town.

"People are leaving with literally clothes on their backs and what few possessions they can carry and heading to ... a makeshift camp," Sohail Rahman, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Islamabad, said.