MINGORA :Authorities has urged people on Tuesday in the Swat Valley's main town to leave their homes for safer places as security forces could soon launch an offensive against Taliban militants there.
A February peace pact aimed at ending Taliban violence in the Swat valley northwest of the capital has all but collapsed as the government comes under US pressure to get tough with the militants rather than appease them.
President Asif Ali Zardari is due to meet US President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington on Wednesday for talks on the growing militant threat in the region.
Militants had infiltrated into five districts of Mingora, the main town in Swat, and begun attacking security forces and government installations, said the top government official in the valley, Khushal Khan Khattak.
"We have relaxed the curfew today and asked residents to leave their areas because security forces may engage militants and we want to avoid civilian casualties," Khattak told Reuters.
Increasing violence and the spread of the Taliban have raised alarm in the United States about the ability of the country, whose help is vital in efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, to stand up to the militants.
Residents of Mingora said militants had surrounded a paramilitary force base at a power station in the town and others had taken up positions on buildings and were patrolling streets.
"CIVILIAN SHIELD"
Khattak declined to comment on the situation at the base but a senior military official in the region said an operation might be launched to rescue 46 paramilitary soldiers besieged there.
"We're acting with restraint because they're using civilians as a shield but we'll go after them if the situation gets worse," said the military official, who declined to be identified.
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