Pakistani war planes have carried out air strikes on suspected Taliban hideouts amid ground operations aimed at retaking the troubled northwestern Swat Valley.

Ground forces backed by helicopter gunships on Thursday targeted al-Qaeda- and Taliban-linked insurgents in the Khawazakhela area, about 25 kilometers north of the main town in Swat called Mingora.

Military sources reported that they managed to kill dozens of Taliban militants in Swat and its surrounding regions.

“We have orders to target militants’ hideouts and the writ of the government is to be established at any cost,” a local official said.

Pakistani military sources put at over 300 the number of insurgents killed since April 26 — when the anti-Taliban offensives began from the Lower Dir and Buner districts, located about 62 miles (100km) from the capital Islamabad.

Pakistan intensified its military operations after the Taliban turned a blind eye to government efforts to enter a peace deal with the militant group and announced plans to infiltrate into Islamabad and other major cities across the nuclear-armed country.

In another move expected to prompt a Taliban response, the eldest son of pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad, who mediated talks between the government and the insurgents, was killed in government air strikes on an area near a town in Lower Dir.

Meanwhile, the Taliban have planted countless landmines in populated Swat areas to stop civilians from fleeing the volatile region to nearby makeshift hospitals and refugee camps set up by the Red Cross.

Pakistan, which expects up to 500,000 people to be displaced in Swat, says the Taliban is using civilians as human shields. The situation in Swat is such that the Red Cross has warned that a major humanitarian crisis is looming on the horizon.

According to a UN official in Mardan, up to 60,000 displaced people have already registered at centers in the besieged town.

Sources in the volatile valley have revealed that most of the al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in the troubled northwestern region are of Arab origin and have come from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.

The revelation is in line with remarks made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a congressional hearing in which she explained how the US along with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) created the Taliban in the 1980s to counter then Soviet influence in the country.

“And great, let them come from Saudi Arabia and other countries, importing their Wahhabi brand of Islam so that we can go beat the Soviet Union,” Clinton said.

Moderate Sunni and Shia Muslims are of the belief that the Wahhabi Taliban ideology bears no resemblance with Islam and that the group was created by the world powers to fuel extremism and to encourage Islamophobia.

The US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 pushed Taliban militants across the border and into Pakistan. Ever since, the restive tribal belt between the two neighbors has become a scene of daily violence.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates during his recent visit to Riyadh reached out to Saudi officials — who according to Washington maintain close ties with al-Qaeda and Taliban elements — in an effort to pacify the situation in Pakistan.

The renewed tensions come as US President Barack Obama discussed the surge in militancy with his Pakistani and Afghan counterparts in Washington.

Pakistan’s government has lifted a curfew in the Swat valley to allow residents to escape an intense battle between the army and Taleban militants.

The curfew has trapped tens of thousands of people attempting to flee the violence.

The army is trying to reverse militant advances in the area, in what the prime minister has called a “fight for the survival of the country”.

The army said dozens of militants had been killed in fighting on Saturday.

The government said the curfew would be lifted for seven hours on Sunday, beginning at 0600 local time.

It asked civilians to take the chance to flee the area.

Cars and buses have started arriving to pick up residents from Mingora, the biggest town in the region, and the nearby towns of Kambar and Raheemabad.

BBC regional analyst Anbarasan Ethirajan says the lifting of the curfew is a sign that the army offensive is likely to intensify over the coming days.

Pakistan’s government signed a peace agreement with the Swat Taleban in February, allowing Sharia law there, which was sharply criticised by Washington.

The militants then moved towards the capital, Islamabad, causing further alarm.

Up to 15,000 troops have been deployed in the Swat valley and neighbouring areas to take on 4,000-5,000 militants.

The military has said it intends to “eliminate” the Taleban fighters.

The fighting has already displaced some 200,000 people, while a further 300,000 are estimated to be on the move or about to flee, the UN says.

The government also said on Saturday that refugee camps would be set up in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, and to the north-east in Naushara.

Footage on local television showed people at one camp desperately looting UN supplies including blankets and cooking oil.

‘Road jammed’

Earlier, fighting was reported to have reached Mingora, which the army has been trying to recapture.

One resident in the town told the Associated Press news agency he was too scared to flee, and was running out of food for his three children.

“We have no electricity, no running water, and we are almost out of food, milk and other things,” said the man, Ikramullah Khan. “We do not know what to do.”

The army said it had killed 55 more militants on Saturday, having said that more than 140 militants had died in earlier clashes.

Due to the intensity of the fighting and the cutting of phone networks, it is difficult to get independent information on the fighting or verify the army’s claims, correspondents say.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told reporters on Saturday called the conflict “a guerrilla war”.

“This is our own war. This is war for the survival of the country,” Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

Residents have been blaming both sides for the violence, our correspondent says, as the military continues to bombard the area while the Taleban reportedly prevents people from fleeing.

One Mingora resident was quoted by Reuters saying he had not been able to escape during an earlier curfew.

“We are feeling so helpless, we want to go but can’t,” said Sallahudin Khan.

“We tried to leave yesterday after authorities relaxed the curfew for a few hours, but we couldn’t as the main road leading out of Mingora was literally jammed with the flood of fleeing people.”

Amid concerns about the Taliban’s recent advances to the Pakistani capital, the army says its new full-scale offensive is purging the Swat Valley of the insurgents.

After Taliban insurgents fired rockets at a military base in Mingora on Saturday, the army moved to launch a full-scale operation with helicopters targeting Taliban hideouts in the hotly contested areas of the country’s northwest.

Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said on Saturday that the security forces had killed 140 militants in the region.

According to the military spokesman, nearly 4,000 militants estimated to be in the Swat Valley were fleeing the military offensive.

“They are on the run and trying to block the exodus of innocent civilians by preventing their departure through coercion,” Athar said.

Other sources in the military claimed to have killed at least 170 insurgents across the valley and its adjoining districts over the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, fresh troops and military enforcement were sent to the valley and its adjoining areas after earlier on Thursday Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered the army to “eliminate militants and terrorists” battling government forces in the region.

The escalating violence has prompted massive displacement in the insurgency-plagued area.

Red Cross has warned that a major humanitarian crisis is looming in the region, where an estimated half-million people are being displaced.

The US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 pushed the militants across the border and into Pakistan. Ever since, the restive tribal belt between the two neighbors has become a scene of daily violence.

Islamabad government says it will force the militants to lay down their arms, but the military’s top spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, said on Friday the operation in Swat was difficult and he declined to give a timeline for clearing the valley.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has vowed to continue the offensive against the Taliban in the Swat region until normalcy is restored to the volatile valley.

The death toll of Dera Ismail Khan suicide attack has reached to 32.

Army took the control of the city due to deteriorating law and order situation. According to initial reports, a suicide blast occurred in funeral procession near imam baragah Kotli Imam Hussain killing 32 and  150 injured people. Police said the explosion happened near Shobra hotel.

Last Night, Aseem Raza age 22, martyred by firing of a group near Hussaini Mission Imambargah at Drugh Road, Shah Faisal Colony Karachi. One of his associate was injured.

After Namaz e Janaza Momineen do protest on Sharah e Faisal, Road. During the protest again Sipah e Yazeed open fire on Momineen. Two more Momin’s shoot dead by sipah e Yazeed in Shah Faisal Colony. One Shop and One house also burned by Sipah e Yazeed. No action taken from GOVT, on this martyred. We strongly condem on it, no local media channel coverage of this protest on TV & Newspapers. We appeal all momineen specially Anjuman’s, who gives the expensive advertisment on Newspapers of Anjumans programs and other issue, its responsiblity of all condem D.I. Khan Blast and also condem Aseem Raza Martyred. Show strength and unity of nation on media. Shaheed ki jo Mout hay woh Qoum ki Hayat Hay.. Labaik Ya Hussain (a.s).