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According to international aid workers in the region, the attack has created more outrage than fear among local people, many of whom are turning against the Taliban, fed up with the disruptions and misery the militants have brought to their lives.

“The fact that the Taliban is bombing the markets, cinemas, mosques, cyber cafes, medical facilities and almost every place that the locals go is seriously going against the Taliban,” said Oisin Walton, head of the Pakistan mission in Peshawar for Telecoms Sans Frontieres, a Paris-based humanitarian nongovernmental organization specialized in providing emergency telecommunications.

“People in the region want peace,” said Walton. “They do not support the Taliban and they are not in favor of bombing and are supporting the military operations of the Pakistani government.”

One of the most striking features of the push against the Taliban and their supporters has been the formation of an informal fighting group called “Laskar,” consisting of local tribesmen and former Taliban who have since turned against the militants.

With government and army support, armed Laskars are now fighting the Taliban in a bid to drive out insurgents from their villages. Earlier this week, outraged over the bombing of a mosque in Hayagay Gharbi village in the Swat Valley that killed at least 40 people and wounded scores more, some 400 villagers reportedly attacked several Taliban strongholds, killing at least a dozen militants.

The citizen militia managed to free three of the villages from the Taliban stranglehold after destroying some 20 houses suspected of harboring Taliban militants.

Admittedly, the sudden crackdown by the Pakistani government on the Taliban after earlier giving up control of the Swat Valley to the radical Islamist group has come down hard on millions of residents in the northwest frontier region.

The crackdown has displaced at least 3 million people who have been forced to flee the region, leaving behind all their possessions, and take refuge outside the combat zone many miles away.

Succumbing to pressures from the Taliban, the shaky democratic government of President Asif Ali Zardari ceded control of Swat Valley earlier this year. But instead of bringing even a temporary peace, ceding control brought a multitude of problems. It allowed the Taliban to introduce their harsh Sharia law in the valley, which denied the people many basic human rights, especially women's rights.

However, due especially to U.S. fears that the Taliban could use their base in the Swat region to expand their influence to other parts of Pakistan, Zardari was forced to reverse that decision in May and launch an offensive against the Islamist militants.

Zardari took this step despite concerns that he would appear to be acting under U.S. instructions. The resultant fiasco has brought immense suffering for Pakistan.

While government forces have failed to weaken the insurgents, the Taliban has unleashed deadly terror attacks not only in the frontier region but throughout the country. Hardly a day goes by without a terror attack in Pakistan these days.

“The humanitarian tragedy has taken on enormous proportions, with the plight and sufferings of the people in the region becoming almost unbearable,” said Walton. His group set up an emergency response unit last month to provide free three-minute telephone calls to displaced people to enable them to contact relatives and friends.

“We have seen, for instance, a displaced woman who called to inform her working husband in Dubai that she managed to escape, but she doesn’t know where her children are. No one is sure how long this situation will last, while the conflict between government troops and the Taliban insurgents is making the region increasingly insecure to run even aid work,” said Walton.

Tuesday’s bomb attack on a hotel popular with Westerners, and where some 25 U.N. staff members were staying, almost brought aid operations to a halt. Walton, who was staying on the third floor of the hotel, was lucky enough to escape with only head injuries. Seventeen people lost their lives. The United Nations lost two staff members, including UNICEF’s Pakistani chief.

Walton suspended operations in Pakistan on Wednesday night “until further notice.” Many other local and international aid organizations had to close their offices, though some may be still carrying on despite the chaos, he said. “This attack came at a time when the aid operations were already facing serious problems, including shortage of funds.”

The United Nations has called for US$540 million in funds, but only about 20 percent has been provided so far. According to Walton, if funds do not arrive in time the 30-odd relief camps in the region will run out of supplies in about four weeks.

Walton’s organization is supported by the United Nations as well as global telecom companies including Inmarsat, Eutelsat, Vizada, AT&T, Cable and Wireless, PCCW Global and others, and thus does not have the funding problems many other aid agencies face.

In the midst of this human tragedy, Pakistanis are showing tremendous solidarity in hard times. According to Walton, just 20 percent of the 3 million displaced people have taken up shelter in relief camps. The rest have been hosted by local families.

“I haven’t seen this kind of solidarity in any other country where I have worked as a relief worker,” said Walton.

As he boarded a plane Wednesday for Bangkok, where his team will regroup, Walton said he would be back soon. “We don’t want to leave the displaced people behind and do not want those who have planted the bombs to know that they have won,” he said. “Their aim was to drive away aid workers and international aid organizations and create fear among the locals. But that is not going to happen.”