Ahead of the international conference on Afghanistan and neighbouring countries that will take place in The Hague on 31 March, "the ICRC calls on the participating States to consider the plight of civilians as a matter of urgency," said Jacques de Maio, the ICRC's head of operations for South Asia.

''In recent months, the armed conflict in the north of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province has forced many people to flee their homes,'' said Mr de Maio. ''We have also seen a steady influx of weapon-wounded patients as a result of the armed conflict and volatile security conditions in North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas,'' he added.

The ICRC has stepped up its operations in order to help civilians and the injured, and has more than doubled its current budget for Pakistan, from 24.1 million Swiss francs to 52.6 million.

In Dir, on the Pakistani side of the border, the ICRC is currently delivering aid to over 40,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) who do not yet feel safe returning to their home communities. "The ceasefire in the Swat district has enabled us to provide much-needed help to displaced people and returnees," said Mr de Maio. After distributing food to some 42,000 people in Swat uprooted by military operations and insecurity, the ICRC now wants to tackle health problems in the most affected areas and is also ready to work in Bajaur Agency, north-west Pakistan.

In Peshawar, the ICRC has set up a 60-bed tented hospital to perform emergency surgery on a growing number of injured civilians and fighters. Since the Bajaur crisis in August 2008, the number of weapon-wounded patients has increased significantly, most of them with shrapnel, bullet and blast injuries. At the same time, the ICRC has begun to renovate an ICRC hospital that will provide improved emergency treatment and surgery in the future.

The ICRC is coordinating its operations on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. "In both Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is expected that the political and military dynamics of the conflict will further endanger the lives and livelihood of civilians in the short term. Their safety and welfare will depend on enhanced respect for international humanitarian law, including for provisions protecting detainees, and on a stronger neutral and independent humanitarian response,'' concluded Mr de Maio.

The ICRC is working in close cooperation with the Pakistan and Afghan Red Crescent Societies.


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