War influx stirs tension in Pakistan flashpoint

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Waziristan are being neglected in a climate of animosity between Pashtuns from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and those from the settled area, says The International Crisis Group, a Ploughshares Fund grantee. The week-old Waziristan campaign has created 910,000 internally displaced persons, according to a report by Refugees International. Hospitals and hotels have shut their gates and only people with valid identity documents can enter these places, with civilians from the tribal belt being the primary victims of these policies, says an International Crisis Group report. The group accused the military of not allowing camps for Waziristan IDPs on the "unjustifiable grounds that they would offer jihadi groups pools of easy recruits," forcing Pashtuns to seek accommodation in private homes, which face further harassment by security agencies. NGOs also report being kept from distributing assistance to internally displaced people from South Waziristan, and a major international aid organization was escorted out of D.I. Khan, Waziristan’s neighboring agency.