THE trucks are loaded again in Bajaur.

Mattresses tied with rope and children carrying school bags that may never open again reflect a scene that is not just a tragedy of the moment but a cycle repeating every few years. For the people of Bajaur, displacement has become a haunting routine.

Anyone who understands the word “home” realizes it embodies protection and calm. For Bajaur’s tribal communities home has always been more than a physical place yet one they are forced to abandon time and again. Around 250000 residents fled their houses during military operations in the early 2000s as part of the War on Terror. Some became nomads in Afghanistan while others scattered across Pakistani cities. Once militants were driven out the innocent returned and rebuilt their homes brick by brick from the ruins left by gunpowder and missiles.

When the........

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