UNHCR Says 140,000 Displaced By Fighting In NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD -- Some 140,000 people have been displaced by fighting between Pakistani government troops and insurgents in the northwestern part of the country since January, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Local UNHCR spokesperson Dunya Aslam Khan told RFE/RL that up to 140,000 people had been registered at the Jalozai camp near Peshawar as of March 30.

Earlier, a UNHCR spokesperson in Geneva had said slightly more than 100,000 people had fled the fighting and that 63,000 of them were at Jalozai.

The agency said a recent increase in the intensity of the fighting in Khyber has been forcing families to flee the region to the safety of the nearby Jalozai camp.

Experts say up to 10 million Pakistanis have been displaced by natural disasters and fighting across the country in recent years.