Tajikistan: a further 1,500 people displaced in a single week

Since 23 September over 1,500 people have fled the Mionadu valley and the Tavildara region, where the situation is becoming unbearable for civilians. The valley, which is under opposition control, has been cut off from the outside world since the beginning of the year. The town of Tavildara, recently retaken by government forces, is the only location in the area to have received relief. On 13 September the ICRC managed to reach the town, isolated by the fighting for five months, and delegates found the town largely destroyed.

The region's population was poor even before the conflict, and in the present circumstances they may not make it through the winter. Many inhabitants, for the most part women, children and elderly people, have therefore decided to abandon their villages and flee. About a thousand have gone to the Garm valley, while 500 others have taken refuge in Khovaling following an exhausting 150-km march over Pamir mountain passes, some of which are more than 3,000 metres high.

The ICRC is currently assisting 20,000 displaced people in Tajikistan.