IOM began distributing urgently needed relief supplies on Wednesday to 130 Afghan families displaced by conflict in Pakistan’s North Waziristan agency.

Ongoing military operations in North Waziristan have displaced thousands of people of both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The latest UN estimates indicate that at least 12,000 people have crossed into Afghanistan’s Khost province, mainly settling in host communities.

IOM has established a presence in Khost and has been assessing the needs and intentions of returning Afghan families. Many of the families interviewed by IOM fled Pakistan with few supplies, and expressed an immediate need for humanitarian assistance.

Utilizing its network of warehouses across the country, IOM mobilized aid to Khost and began distributions to Afghan families on Wednesday, working in partnership with the Afghan Directorate of Refugees and Repatriation.

IOM gave each family a Non-Food Items (NFI) kit, containing kitchen supplies, a jerry can, soap, a gas cylinder and stove, chlorine solution and blankets along with other essential household supplies. Families were also given a hygiene kit and a tent, if needed, provided by other agencies.

“My family arrived from Pakistan with almost nothing and we have been sleeping with no roof over our heads,” said Abu Omar, an Afghan man who was displaced from North Waziristan. “We really needed this assistance, and we appreciate it so much.”

Later this week, an IOM team will visit neighboring Paktika province to assess the displacement situation there.

Additional aid is being transported to Khost from IOM’s office in Paktya province, and distributions will continue in the coming weeks for affected families.

For further information please contact Matt Graydon, IOM Kabul, Tel: +93 794 100 546, Email: mgraydon@iom.int