(AKI) - Around 135,000 residents have reportedly fled a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan to avoid clashes between security forces and Taliban militants. Officials said that up to half of the population of some villages in the troubled Bajaur tribal district had fled, although militants were trying to stop people from leaving. "We have around 135,000 people who have left their homes there," the additional chief secretary for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Habibullah Khan said. "We have directed officials in adjoining districts to provide shelter, food and health care to the migrating families."Witnesses said that thousands of families had arrived in Shabqadar, a small town adjoining the tribal belt. Residents and welfare organisations were raising funds and cooking food for them, they said.