ARLINGTON, Va. — The Pentagon has sent to Islamabad the first two American C-17 cargo planes packed with pallets of food and tents intended to help an estimated 1.7 million civilians fleeing the Pakistan military’s fighting with Taliban and extremist fighters in the Swat Valley.
The Pakistani government expects the number of civilians in flight to peak at 2 million within the next seven to 10 days.
But Rear Adm. Michael LeFever, the U.S. defense attache in Islamabad, told Pentagon reporters Wednesday that the Pakistani government has informed U.S. officials that it expects to keep the network of camps for internally displaced persons, or IDPs, open through the end of the year.
“It appears, as a campaign plan, that this would last, they said, to anticipate this population in IDP camps to last through December,” said LeFever.
As fighting shifts from one region to another, he said, the government expects a steady stream of roughly 1.5 million displaced civilians flowing into and out of those areas.
The U.S. military this week committed to providing $10 million in aid in addition to $100 million coming from the State Department and other U.S. agencies, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Tuesday at the White House.
On Wednesday, two C-17s were met at the international airport by U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson and Pakistani Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmad, who is in charge of the aid operation. The cargo planes were loaded to capacity with 40,000 halal Meals, Ready to Eat and 25 large tents to be used as emergency medical stations and air-conditioned shelters from the near 100-degree temperatures in the Swat Valley region.
On Thursday, a third and final flight of Pentagon-sponsored aid is expected to arrive, for a total of 125,000 MREs and 50 tents.
“The supplies came from Kuwait, but the flights flew out of Al-Udeid in Qatar,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Wright said.
LeFever added that the U.S. military also will provide water trucks, generators and air-conditioning units that will be acquired locally.
The Pakistani army was keeping Taliban and extremist fighters separated from the camp locations, the admiral said, by a distance he estimated to be between 20 and 30 kilometers. The army was securing roads leading into the valley, and maintained key positions high in the mountains.
“We don’t have any information on Taliban trying to get into camps,” he said, and already 80 registration centers are processing each individual who arrives
Shortly after Clinton’s announcement, humanitarian organizations already were calling the Obama administration’s commitment a “first step.”
According to an Associated Press report on Tuesday, Patrick Duplat of Refugees International said the U.S. total aid package amounted to just $55 per displaced person.
LeFever said the Pakistani government was expected to ask the international community for another major commitment of funding on Thursday. That request would help fund the relocation of some civilians back into areas now secured and compensate for home reconstruction costs.
A United Nations appeal for donor aid is expected to come on Friday.
“We have not seen the figures yet from either one of those — draft figures — to understand the magnitude of what they will be asking for,” said LeFever.
Some of the IDP camps accepting Swat Valley residents were set up six months ago to house civilians fleeing fighting in the city of Bajaur and the Northwest Provinces, LeFever said. But as they return home — 240,000 people are expected back in Bajaur this month — others will take their place in those camps.
As the Pakistani army continues to push toward Mingora, the major city of the region, another major group of civilians could hit the camps, leaving behind only Taliban fighters there holed up for the fight, he said.
Humanitarian groups, military strategists and observers have criticized the call for hundreds of thousands of civilians to take flight from their homes, rather than conduct counterinsurgency operations among of the general population of the region. But LeFever said he supported a series of statements made this week by Pakistani government leaders saying their decision was a “last resort” necessary in order to fight extremists head-on.
“This one collapsed because the peace deal that they had struck — the insurgents did not follow through on their terms of the deal, and were given ample opportunity, I thought, by the government to be able to go back to the terms of the deal, which they did not do,” he said.
A little more than 20 percent of those displaced are expected to rely on IDP camps. More than 80 percent have taken shelter with networks of family or friends, LeFever said.
It was unclear if any of the imported humanitarian aid would be available to relieve the burden on those families.
The admiral said Pakistan is crafting stipend packages that would compensate the displaced somewhat to account for two months worth of food and transportation back home. Civilians also likely would receive some amount of compensation for damages to their homes.
