10 May, 2009
Civilians caught in the crossfire in Pakistan
Posted by: admin In: Around Beijing| News
MARDAN, Pakistan – Shaista, a terrified 11-year-old girl from the Swat Valley, was lying in a hospital bed in Mardan’s ill-equipped health center on Friday.
She suffered severe injuries to her legs when an artillery shell, reportedly fired by Pakistani troops, hit her family’s small house Thursday night in Mingora.
The traumatized Shaista said the mortar shell struck a room where she was sleeping. Her voice choking, Shaista said her mother, two sisters and brother were killed in the incident – and then she became lost in deep despair.
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| Mushtaq Yusufzai / NBC |
| Shaista, 11, in her hospital bed in Marden. |
A doctor treating the girl said she seems to lose her memory when speaking and starts to suddenly cry – apparently because of deep shock she suffered.
Children have proved to be some of the hardest-hit victims among the estimated one million people displaced by the ongoing fighting between Pakistan’s armed forces and Taliban militants in the northern districts of Buner and Swat.
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