Pakistan fears exodus from Swat

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, said."The social development minister ... has appealed to aid agencies to try and help those people who were leaving the Swat area and Buner with accommodation.""In view of the situation in Swat, at least 500,000 people can migrate from that area. Camps are being established for them," Mian Iftikhar Hussain, North West Frontier Province's information minister, said.The military had earlier ordered neighbourhoods on the edge of Mingora to evacuate and announced the end of a curfew for the displaced to flee, a move that sparked fears of an imminent new offensive.Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's Islamabad correspondent, said: "This is a major catastrophe unfolding in the North West Frontier Province."