Al Jazeera English - Focus - Pakistan diary: Unity in adversity
PAKISTAN: THE BATTLE WITHIN
Pakistan diary: Unity in adversity
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Almost 1.5 million people have been displaced by this month's fighting, the UN refugee agency says[/FONT][/FONT]
Imran Khan, Al Jazeera's reporter in Pakistan, will be filing regular dispatches from the country as the army battles Taliban fighters in the North West Frontier Province.
Mirabadi Village, Wednesday, May 20, 07.40GMT
The vast majority of Pakistan's almost 1.5 million refugees are living outside of the camps in private accommodation.
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Mirabadi Village, which lies just outside of Islamabad, is a 'slum village'[/FONT] We visited some of these people to really see what their living conditions were like and to hear their stories.
The term "private accommodation" conjures up images of families helping each other out, living in nice conditions with a homely atmosphere.
Whilst that might be true for some, for others the living conditions are as challenging as those in the camps.
Mirabadi Village - just outside of Islamabad - is a slum village. It's dusty, with narrow cobbled streets, open sewers and poor house workers. The type, although not Pakistan's poorest, that have little.
But even here amongst the heat and barefoot children are stories of incredible generosity.
Nazimuddin is a labourer, working whenever he can find a job carrying bricks in one of the capital's many construction sites.
If he earns a dollar a day he considers himself lucky.
His house is basic, two rooms and toilet, with an outdoor cooking area.
Crucially, however, he has a basic house next door in his village which was empty.
In video 
Pakistan's displaced struggle to find shelter
A Pakistani charity, FHRO, based in Swat asked him if he could house refugees.
He jumped at the chance to help.
"I have no television, radio, but the villagers her were talking about the fighting in Swat, I knew I had to help," he says.
"It is my duty as a Muslim, as a Pakistani. I have very little."
It has made a massive difference to Ahsanullah who lives in the house.
They have few facilities. Pakistan's energy crisis means they are without electricity, they use gas to cook with, but even then the cost of gas means the have to use it sparingly.
Ahsanullah fled with his familiy and were placed here by the charity.
"This man has very little, but what he does have he shares with us," he tells me.
Ahsanullah and Nazimuddin are now firm friends. As their children play together I can't help but be struck by just how, in the face of a massive crisis, Pakistanis have united and continue to unite.
Islamabad, Tuesday, May 19, 13.13GMT
After careering around the North West Frontier Province for the past week or so, it feels good to be back in the relative calm of the capital Islamabad.
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The government assault on pro-Taliban fighters has forced 1.5m to flee their homes [AFP][/FONT][/FONT] I say relative calm because, despite the fact that I was here just a few weeks ago, I have noticed a few changes.
Huge concrete walls have gone up around some buildings. In other parts, black and yellow concrete safety barriers have turned open roads into go-kart courses.
The Marriott Hotel, subject to a massive bomb blast in September last year, is cocooned in a massive shell made out of blast walls and sandbags.
Armed guards, pump action shotguns draped casually over their shoulders, stand on every street.
This is Fortress Islamabad.
It's been like this for a while now, but in last few months security the capital has gone into security overdrive.
Driving past the Parliament requires you to navigate several checkpoints and the route from one end of Islamabad to the other, which used to take 20 minutes, can now take an hour.
I contrast this with the Islamabad of my youth. My younger brother, sister and I used to come to the capital city on holiday as children.
In the 1980s it was nice place. Families would picnic in the hills that surround the city, you could go horse riding, every available space seemed to taken up by young men playing cricket and groups of girls would sit in cafes sharing ice cream and gossip.
The only security you would see was on the outskirts of the city. You would have never seen Pakistani army soldiers ensconced in sand bag posts.
That peaceful Islamabad seems to have gone.
Don't get me wrong, Islamabad still continues in it's own way, but as city it has changed irrevocably.
Fashion shows still happen here, there is a thriving arts scene, the markets are packed with every kind of Pakistani buying every kind of cloth and the cafes are still doing a brisk trade.
But it's not the carefree atmosphere of my youth. People tend not to hang around as much as they used to, most entertaining now happens at home and Islamabad's vast array of restaurants, though packed by day, remain emptier than ever at night.
Islamabad - they call it the beautiful city here. Carved out of the hills it's definitely that, but it's also nervy and tense.
Mardan, Monday, May 18, 12.03 GMT The streets are teeming, the noise is deafening.
At every corner, on every road, it seems someone is trying to raise money, ask for goods, or pray for Pakistan's displaced.
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The outpouring of charitable aid has been 'extraordinary', says Imran Khan [AFP]
[/FONT][/FONT] Mixed in amongst it all is a small stall with a black and white flag gently fluttering away.
The flag is a surprise to me as it belongs to a group that was banned: Jamaat Ud Dawa.
The UN put them on a terrorist watch list after the Mumbai attacks last year.
The group then disappeared as it members were arrested. Now here they are, working alongside the UN.
The group seems to have risen from the ashes.
But there is a new name to describe it: Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, which translates as the Humanitarian Welfare Organisation.
I asked the spokesman, a young bearded chap with and high visibility orange jacket on, if the name change was simply cosmetic. He was non-committal.
"We coordinate with Jamaat Ud Dawa, but we co-ordinate with several charities," he said.
Inside the tent sat Yayha Mujahadin, a key member of Jamaat Ud Dawa. I asked him for an interview but he declined.
It seems whoever this particular group is, they are keeping a low profile.
For the people in the camp, though, it matters little who is supporting them, whether it's groups with alleged links to jihadist organisations, the UN, or student organisations - the aid is important.
The vast majority of Pakistans estimated 1.5 million refugees live with family or friends but a significant chunk live in camps which are supplied by Pakistanis of every political hue.
It is extraordinary, the outpouring of generosity I have witnessed over the last week.
But what will stick with me is the sight of a member of a group the UN has put on terrorist watch list work alongside the UN when it comes to helping refugees.
Peshawar, Sunday, May 17, 14:09 GMT
It has been a very eerie day in Peshawar.
After Saturday's bomb blasts - which killed at least 11 people and wounded several others - Pakistan has had time to digest the events.
Pakistani politicians seem to have taken a bullish stance. They want to get rid of the Taliban.
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Pakistan is braced for what could be a decisive assault on the Swat town of Mingora [AFP][/FONT][/FONT] The chief minister of the North West Frontier Province says he wants the army to go after the Taliban in other areas of the country. He has some support for the idea, but others are fearful over any more military action.
With something like 1.5 million Pakistanis already displaced, any additional military action is likely to cause that figure to skyrocket. Pakistan is struggling to cope with the problem it has, never mind any more.
Also, ordinary Pakistanis are terrified of reprisal attacks. The Taliban are said to have several bases across Pakistan from which they can launch attacks.
It is a very tense situation.
The government, though, seems to be sensing victory.
Pakistan is braced for what could be a decisive assault on the main Swat town of Mingora.
The Taliban have said it's victory or death.
Whatever the outcome, what is clear is that Swat valley is only the beginning of Pakistan's fight.
The Taliban are unlikely to just give up Swat without attacking major cities.
The government may be confident of victory, but Pakistanis are terrified of at what cost it will come.