BANNU: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday said his government would build 2,000 homes for those displaced in the North Waziristan operation.

He said terrorists were trying to cause irreparable damage to Pakistan, adding that there was still time to take measures to improve conditions in the country.

The chief minister made these remarks while addressing those displaced as a result of the military operation under way in North Waziristan at the camp of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Baka Khel.

Accompanied by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Mehtab Abbasi, Shahbaz had arrived at the camp which is located in a vast open field a good half-hour drive from Bannu city to meet with the IDPs and distributed gifts among them.

Addressing the IDPs at the camp, Shahbaz said Operation Zarb-i-Azb was necessary to fight against those who wanted to enforce their own ideologies on the people of Pakistan.

Shahbaz moreover announced that a hospital, a university and Danish schools would be constructed in North Waziristan. He also promised that along with these ventures, he would ensure the construction of 2,000 houses in the tribal region.

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The IDPs had started pouring in at the camp soon after the military launched an offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in the North Waziristan tribal region in mid-June.

The assault, which was rumoured for months, followed a brazen insurgent attack on Karachi airport that left dozens dead and a peace process with the Pakistani Taliban in tatters.

North Waziristan had become a major base for the TTP which rose up against the state in 2007, while the United States had long called for action in the area against militant groups targeting Nato forces in Afghanistan.

More than 500 militants and 27 soldiers have been killed in the assault so far, according to the military, though their death toll for insurgents cannot be independently confirmed.