Pakistan: Refugees Flee Swat Fighting

September 28, 2009 | Pulitzer Center

William Wheeler, for the Pulitzer Center, Mardan, Pakistan

The local hospital in Mardan, where many of those caught in the crossfire come for treatment. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

A 36-year-old man wounded by a mortar shell that killed three of his children as they prepared to flee earlier this week. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

Earlier this week, the Mardan refugee camp had only 40-50 tents, say witnesses. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

Now, the sprawling field is fast becoming a sea of tents. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

Local caretakers say there's an acute shortage of food, medicine, and, particularly, clean water. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

Children at Mardan in a sector administered by volunteer students from a local college. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

A playful scrum breaks out as a man tosses a bag of biscuits to children in Mardan refugee camp. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

Mobashar Khang opened his family's parcel of land in Islamabad for refugees three months ago. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

A boy carries water donated by local residents and NGO's to his family's tent in a camp in Islamabad. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

Children at the camp in Islamabad, where doctors say many are ill from lack of safe water. Image by William Wheeler. Pakistan, 2009.

Zeeshan Khan, a 17-year-old engineering student, says he knows who Pakistanis blame for what has become the largest migration in their country's history. "These people are coming due to the bombing," he said, gesturing to the thousands of refugees milling around the Mardan refugee camp. "Due to the jet artillery, the F-16s, the heavy weapons. All our houses are destroyed."

More than 900,000 people have left their homes in and around Swat valley in the last few weeks, adding to a total of 1.4 million people displaced so far by fighting between the Pakistani Army and militants. Over the last few days, Pakistani officials have vowed not only to win the ongoing offensive against militants, but also to win the country's "hearts and minds" by limiting collateral civilian damage and providing humanitarian assistance.

But while there is widespread public support in Pakistan for the campaign against the militants, the loss of civilian life and the ensuing humanitarian crisis threaten to erode it. "The issue is whether they can sustain the credibility of the people and to isolate the extremists." says Khalid Rahmin, director of the Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad. "So far not many people have been speaking against it. But for how long? People are already starting to recoil."

Most of these photos were taken Wednesday in Mardan, a main district south of the fighting, where a hospital treats those injured in the crossfire and a nearby refugee camp is swelling with newcomers. While 90 percent of the refugees rely on relatives for support, some have made it -- by foot, taxi, and transport truck -- all the way to Islamabad, 60 miles from the fighting, where the rest of the photos were taken.