Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited Mingora in Pakistan’s Swat valley again today 3 June to evaluate the needs of the civilian population remaining in the area.

Simon Schorno, an ICRC delegate now at its Geneva headquarters, who recently returned from the area told GenevaLunch that ICRC  is seeking agreement from the parties to the conflict to set up a a sub-delegation in Mingora, scene of much fighting in the last two weeks. It hopes to reach agreement shortly.

ICRC visited the town for the first time Sunday 31 May and said in a communiqué that its delegates were alarmed by the conditions  they encountered. People there had been blocked for weeks, they said, “there was no running water, no electricity, and food is scarce”, ICRC said.

Currently, ICRC covers the area from the city of Peshawar, capital of the Northwest Frontier Province and about two and 1/2 hours by road from Mingora. A permanent presence in Mingora would allow ICRC to provide much needed relief to civilians who were unable or unwilling to flee the area after the Pakistan government began a campaign against the Pakistani Taliban at the end of last month. ICRC was unable to provide more exact figures for the remaining civilians in the area. The government has announced an end to military operations in Mingora, but fighting continues in other parts of the province and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Some 2.4 million people have fled Swat and neighbouring districts since August 2008 and are housed with friends and relatives in precarious conditions or in camps in Mardan and Swabi districts further south.

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