Thousands fled from the main town in Pakistan's Swat valley today fearing the approach of fighting between government troops and Taliban militants that Washington says pose a threat to the region.
A February peace pact aimed at ending Taliban violence in the Swat valley northwest of the capital has all but collapsed as the government has come under US pressure to get tough with the militants rather than appease them.
President Asif Ali Zardari, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's widower, 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 five areas of Mingora, the main town in Swat, 130 km (80 miles) from Islamabad, and captured several government buildings, government and security officials said.
The top administrator in Swat, Khushal Khan Khattak, urged people to leave the areas as security forces could attack. He later said the fear of fighting had passed and people could stay at home, while the army said it was in control of the town.
That did not reassure the people cramming into and on top of buses to get out.
"I'm taking my family to Peshawar because if there's any fighting, no one can protect us," said Mohammad Karim, as he searched for a bus heading to the main city in the northwest.
Authorities estimate 500,000 people could flee from the valley, said provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain.
Hundreds of thousands of people have already fled from fighting in different parts of the northwest since August, putting another burden on an economy propped up by a $7.6 billion (5 billion pounds) International Monetary Fund loan.
Increasing violence and the spread of the Taliban have raised alarm in the United States about the ability of the nuclear-armed country to stand up to the militants.
"Pakistan must demonstrate its commitment to rooting out al Qaeda and the violent extremists within its borders," Richard Holbrooke, the U.S., special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in testimony for a congressional committee.
Pakistani action against militant enclaves on the Afghan border is vital to efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.
Pakistani stocks ended up but off the day's highs as investors remained cautious amid expectation the military would step up operations against the militants.
The February peace pact, under which authorities agreed to a Taliban demand for introduction of Islamic sharia law in the former tourist valley, led to accusations from critics at home and abroad that the government was caving in to militancy.
The Taliban refused to give up their guns and pushed into Buner district, only 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Islamabad, and another district adjacent to Swat last month.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton last month accused Islamabad of abdicating to the Taliban while Mr Obama expressed grave concern the government was "very fragile" and unable to deliver basic services.
Amid the concern, security forces launched an offensive to expel militants from Buner and another district on April 26th. About 180 militants have been killed, according to the military, although there has been no independent confirmation.
The operation in Buner was going smoothly and troops were consolidating their positions, the military said.
At the Washington talks, Zardari will stress his government is on the right track and needs help. Mr Obama will present Mr Zardari and Mr Karzai with his strategy for defeating al Qaeda.
Critics says Pakistan has been in denial about the Taliban threat in a country where old rival India has long been the enemy and militants have been used as tools.
In a ruling that could raise fresh questions, a Karachi court set free two men sentenced to death for planning the killing of 11 French navy engineers in a 2002 bomb attack, saying the prosecution had failed to prove its case, a defence lawyer said.
Reuters