Wednesday August 20, 2008  11:46 am

By NAHAL TOOSI

Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - The U.S. on Wednesday offered to help Pakistanis displaced by an army operation against Islamist militants in a northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials have said more than 200,000 have fled Bajur, the primary focus of the nearly two-week-old offensive, and the neighboring Mohmand tribal area. Many have landed in relief camps set up by the government and political parties.

``We stand ready to offer humanitarian assistance to the government of Pakistan, if requested, in regards to the situation in the tribal regions,'' said U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor, offering no specifics about the type of aid.

Bajur is considered a potential hiding place for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri. About 480 people have been killed in the fighting so far, according to Pakistani officials. That figure, offered last week, included suspected insurgents and just 22 paramilitary troops, whereas witnesses in the region also have reported civilian deaths.

The numbers and scope of the offensive have been difficult to confirm because of the area's remote and dangerous nature and reluctance of officials to divulge details.

The U.S. offer indicated American officials were watching the situation with growing concern. But it also came as Washington seeks to strengthen its ties to the new ruling coalition, which this week managed to force longtime U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf to quit as president.

The U.S. also has pushed Pakistan to root out insurgents from the tribal areas, and has frowned on its attempts to seek peace deals with militants instead of resorting to force.

The spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment on the U.S. offer.

Pakistani army helicopter gunships and jets have been pounding militant positions in Bajur since the fighting broke out Aug. 6, when scores of insurgents attacked a military outpost.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the operation was confined to Bajur, but it was possible the operation was having a spillover effect on residents in Mohmand.

Many of the displaced were headed to the Lower Dir region just north of Bajur, where government officials say several relief camps have been set up. Large numbers also went to the main northwestern city of Peshawar and surrounding areas.

Television footage in recent days has shown hundreds of people packing trucks or walking with belongings to escape the violence. Some were guiding cows across a bridge.

Gul Bibi, 58, cried as she told an Associated Press reporter that her husband Hamid Khan left home for evening prayers in the Mullah Sayed area in Bajur four days ago but never returned.

``I don't know where he has gone,'' said Bibi, who along with several other relatives had reached the Munda area on the Dir-Bajur border. ``The Taliban took him along forcibly for fighting or he is consumed in the indiscriminate bombing in our area.''

She cursed the militants.

``They are the ones who are the cause of this army action,'' she said. ``They are all well and innocent people are being killed, their homes destroyed and cattle fleeing.''

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said last week that Pakistani intelligence has reports that about 3,000 armed militants are present in Bajur. The militants include Pakistanis, Afghan Taliban and Central Asians, he said.

The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for two deadly bombings in the northwest in the last several days, saying it was retaliation for the military offensive.

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Associated Press Writer Habib Khan contributed to this report from Munda.