Washington: A US delegation led by special envoy to Pak-Afghan region, Richard Holbrooke, will visit Swat and adjoining areas in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to take stock of the situation in refugee camps housing lakhs of displaced people due to the ongoing military offensive against Taliban.
"Ambassador Holbrooke wants to get a sense of how things are on the ground and how we can better formulate our own assistance with regard to the IDPs (internally displaced people) and others who have been affected by what's been going on in Swat," US State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Wood told reporters at the daily press briefing on Monday.
Holbrooke will be in Pakistan from June 3 to June 5. He will lead a delegation of US officials from the US Department of State, USAID, and the Department of Defense.
"He is traveling at the request of US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to assess the welfare of the people displaced by the security operations being carried out by Pakistani authorities against insurgent extremists," Wood added.
"While in Pakistan, Ambassador Holbrooke will meet with internally displaced people and relief organisations as well as with local and national Pakistani officials," he said.
As of now there are no plans for the delegation to visit neighboring countries Afghanistan and India.
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