Pakistanis fleeing offensive find new dangers in Afghanistan

Tens of thousands of Pakistanis have sought shelter at a sprawling refugee camp in a volatile region of Afghanistan after crossing the mountainous border to escape a military onslaught against insurgents.
For decades Afghans have fled into Pakistan to escape war and upheaval, but in recent months the tide has reversed, with some 60,000 Pakistanis more than half of them children taking refuge in the Gulan camp, some 20 kilometers from the border in the restive Khost province.
"We knew the military operations would last a long time once they started," said Malik Omardin, a tribal elder who came from the Pakistani town of Datta Khel. "It's a mountainous area and the insurgents are very strong on their own territory, so the government will have a hard time finding and destroying the Taliban."

More than 210,000 Pakistanis have crossed into Afghanistan from the neighboring North Waziristan province since the Pakistani military launched a long-awaited offensive in June against Taliban and other foreign militants, who have long used the lawless tribal region as a launch-pad for attacks in both countries.
Eastern Afghanistan is an unlikely refuge. Khost and neighboring Paktika, where most of the refugees have sought shelter, are among the most dangerous provinces in the country. Local security forces have struggled to combat the Taliban following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces, and the insurgents are expected to launch a fresh offensive in the spring.

The Pakistan offensive was launched last June after a militant attack on Karachi's international airport. The government warned residents to flee, and some 93,000 families up to 750,000 people have been displaced inside Pakistan. The Pakistani military says it has killed hundreds of militants, but journalists are barred from the region so it is not possible to verify the claims.
Bo Schack, the UN refugee agency's director in Afghanistan, said he does not expect the flow of refugees to stop any time soon. More than 40,000 families, averaging 7.5 people, have crossed into Afghanistan, he said. Children account for 58 per cent of the Gulan camp's population.