ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appealed Thursday for urgent aid to relieve the growing crisis posed by the displacement of up to two million people who fled fighting with the Taliban.Addressing representatives of international donors in Islamabad, the prime minister referred to ‘grave repercussions’ as a result of the mass exodus of residents forced to flee their homes in the northwest.

‘Given the magnitude of the task that lies ahead, the government of Pakistan would like to seek the support from the donor community, both for the ongoing relief efforts and for the rebuilding process,’ said the prime minister.

‘There is an urgent need for a joint and comprehensive response to this issue by all those who are committed to fighting terrorism,’ Gilani said.

‘We have to win the hearts and minds of the people. We need to do something concrete and visible,’ he added.

The United Nations says around 1.5 million people have been displaced since May 2 during Pakistan’s latest military onslaught against advancing Taliban, bringing to around two million the number displaced since last August.

Gilani said a special prime minister’s fund had been established for the internally displaced and called for domestic and international donations.

Thursday’s meeting comes with the United Nations set to launch a humanitarian programme in response to the crisis.

Pakistan has allocated two billion rupees to the North West Frontier Province government for relief efforts, but critics warn that is a fraction of the money needed for reconstruction and law enforcement.

As the conflict ploughs on with no end in sight, concerns are mounting about how to cope with the displaced, uprooted in what rights groups have called Pakistan’s biggest movement of people since partition from India in 1947.

A senior US military official based in Islamabad said the crisis could last until December because authorities expect large numbers of displaced people to remain at temporary camps to the end of the year.

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