Exactly a month ago, the Pakistani military launched an air offensive against Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), or the Pakistani Taliban, in North Waziristan in response to a Taliban assault on the country’s busiest airport in the southern city of Karachi.
The weeks-long air and ground operation, named Zarb-e-Azb (sharp and cutting strike), has caused the exodus of tens of thousands of people, with some fleeing into neighbouring Afghanistan.
Officials have told Al Jazeera that at least 787,888 men, women, and children have been registered as Internally Displaced Person (IDPs), but activists fear their number may be higher.
Miranshah, the regional capital, is nearly deserted, as most people have fled to Bannu in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to escape the bombing.
The UN says those in the Bannu camp face extreme conditions owing to shortages of potable water, sanitation facilities, and health care, all of which are heightening the risk of communicable disease outbreaks.