Fighting in Pakistan displaces 1.45 million people this month

The UN refugee agency says fighting in Pakistan between the military and Taliban militants has displaced more than 1.45 million people since May 2.

UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond says that is in addition to the more than 550,000 people who were displaced earlier by the military offensive in northwest Pakistan, meaning the total is now more than 2 million.

He said more people are being uprooted faster in Pakistan than in any other world conflict since the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s.

The UN believes around 15 to 20 per cent of the displaced are in camps at the moment Ñ around 250,000 in some 24 camps, UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said, “which means most people are either with host families, communities, in rented accommodation or somewhere else.”