MARDAN, Pakistan — After four sleepless nights as explosions rocked the area, Siraj Muhammad and his family joined a convoy of people fleeing Pakistan’s latest offensive against the Taliban. But the war soon caught up with them.
A shell exploded less than 30 yards from the group, killing two people and embedding shrapnel in the 19-year-mechanic, his mother and two siblings. After walking on for several miles, they flagged down a truck, joining scores of others escaping to safety over a pass.
"We had a home, we had a family, we had happiness, we had prosperity, and all we have now is tears, fear and a dark future,” he said in a refugee camp just south of the war zone. "Who is fighting for what, we do not know. We want to know who is fighting for us.”
Civilian flight
Muhammad was among the terrified civilians fleeing the Swat Valley on Friday as Pakistan’s army vowed to eliminate militants after the government announced an offensive was under way. It has drawn praise from U.S. officials alarmed at the Taliban’s recent advance to within 60 miles of the capital, Islamabad.
by the associated press
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