Ideology, ethnicity and geography substantially explain the rapid advance of the Taliban in parts of North-Western Pakistan.
The on-going operation by the Armed Forces of Pakistan against the Taliban in Swat has resulted in a massive migration out of the conflict zones. About two million non-combatant children, women and men have migrated almost overnight to safer areas in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and other parts of the country.
The chief of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society estimates that, in reflection of the generous hospitality of the people, about 88 per cent of these forced migrants have already been accommodated in the homes of relations, friends or even complete strangers in NWFP itself.
That still leaves about 12 per cent i.e. about 250,000 people to be accommodated in camps, or in other provinces. Even on this scale the task is formidable. One estimate by the U.N. Relief Services office in Pakistan says that about 126,000 people are moving away from the areas of violence on every single day.
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