Pakistan pounds Taleban positions
Pakistani helicopter gunships and warplanes have been bombing suspected Taleban militants in the Swat Valley as clashes intensify in the north-west.
Thousands of civilians continue to flee the area, with fighting especially heavy in the town of Mingora.
Among those reported killed in fighting elsewhere is a son of the cleric behind a peace deal which has now broken down.
On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama vowed to “defeat al-Qaeda” and its allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He was speaking after talks in Washington with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Inside Mingora, the Taleban are getting ready for an attack which local people expect to be imminent. One eyewitness told the BBC he had seen militants planting land mines, digging trenches and cutting down trees to block roads.
A curfew was once again lifted to allow civilians to leave Swat and join the tens of thousands who have already moved into camps or the homes of relatives further to the south.
All are desperate not to get caught in the crossfire.
Residents say at least 24 civilians have lost their lives in the past two days.
Some died when their houses were hit by artillery, while others were reportedly shot for defying a curfew.
The BBC Urdu service’s Riffatullah Orakzai says that eyewitnesses in the Kanju area near Mingora have seen militants set up checkposts on the main roads and are not allowing people who want to flee the fighting to pass.
Witnesses say a large number of people, including women and children, are now stranded there.
Shaukat Saleem, a lawyer who spoke to the BBC from Mingora, said that about 200,000 had now left the town, with a further 500,000 civilians remaining.
He accused both the army and the Taleban of shooting civilians who tried to flee the fighting.
Mr Saleem said that electricity supplies were sporadic and there was little or no water, while the price of goods had shot up.
During the day there is usually a lull in the fighting, Mr Saleem said, with the Taleban very much in control. But at night the exchanges of fire increased and a lot of people had been killed.
Troops moving into the Swat valley have been attacked by remote controlled bombs, while the army says it has killed dozens of militants.
Thousands have fled the fighting
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It also says it has recaptured emerald mines in the Shahdara area, near Mingora, which were being operated by the militants.
Much of the fighting has focused on a hill which overlooks Mingora. The army says the Taleban have seized key buildings inside the town.
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