KHYBER AGENCY - Thousands of civilians forced to flee the Khyber Agency, the military said on Thursday, as it stepped up a two-week-old offensive against Taliban militants in the area.
Twenty-one militants and eight soldiers were killed on Wednesday, the military said in a statement.
National disaster officials say the fighting has forced more than 18,000 people to abandon their homes.
Residents of the area say many people are caught between the two opposing forces, as the military orders them to leave and the militants urge them to stay.
“Security forces were asking us to leave their area as there would be heavy bombing against the militants,” said one villager, Muddasir Shah.
But the militants had set up bunkers and were patrolling villages to prevent residents from leaving, he added.  “The militants were saying we shouldn’t flee the villages. We don’t know whom we should trust.”
The military said it had killed dozens of militants in airstrikes and fighting since the fighting began in Khyber. “The militants wanted people not to leave their houses so that the military don’t use fighter jets and artillery against them,” said Khair Zaman, 47, who had spent nine hours wandering on unfrequented back roads moving his family to safety. The Khyber offensive began two weeks ago in the area around the Tirah Valley, a key smuggling route into neighbouring Afghanistan. At the same time, the military is pressing on with a campaign against the Taliban it launched in nearby North Waziristan in June.
After the massive migration from Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency owing to “Khyber 1” operation, the tribesmen have been accusing officials of FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) and political administration of leaving them in the lurch instead of providing them facilities like those given to the people who fled North Waziristan. According of officials of FDMA, around 9,800 families had left Bara and Rs 2,500 were being given to each family in addition to transportation facility. The facility is being granted to them at various registration points including at Lala Kandao Jamrud Tehsil, Peshtakhara of Peshawar and Orakzai Agency FATA, the officials further informed.
While on the other side, the troubled tribesmen claim that they have been residing with their relatives settled in down towns in Peshawar district. One of the affected persons, Omer Afridi, 29, resident of Speen Kabr, Bara, while criticizing the FDMA officials said the unannounced military offensive has compelled them to leave their homes without collecting their daily use luggages in order to protect themselves.
Qitab Afridi, 25, from Bara, who has migrated to Peshawar, said he considers himself a stranger as there is no home, shelter or camp to stay.
“I was working as a labourer but the military action has deprived me of my petty earning,” he said.
Their businesses, schools and other activities have badly suffered after the initiation of the military operation, he claimed.



“The government and NGOs have not made any arrangements to provide relief to the displaced persons,” complained tribesman Riaz Afridi.
It is to be mentioned here that the volunteers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Alkhidmat Foundation, Khyber Union, Shahid Afridi Foundation and others are providing food packages to the displaced people at various points in Peshtakhara, Peshawar.