swat

The military offensive against Taliban militants entrenched in north-western Pakistan is nearly over, the defence minister has said.

Young and old, poor and prosperous, sick and healthy -- residents of Pakistan's Swat Valley continue to flee the violence that has erupted there as the military clashes with the Taliban.

Those who have fled tell of the whole valley being turned into a battlefield as citizens run away, many of them with no shoes and some elderly. They fall ill from sun and heat exposure -- particularly infants and those already weak and sick -- as they flee.

The military operation against Taliban militants continues in Pakistan's north-western district of Swat. It is hard to get news from the war zone, other than the official version. The communications network has been destroyed and all journalists have left the region. But the BBC Urdu service's Abdul Hai Kakar has managed to speak to two people in the main town of Mingora. The names have been changed for security reasons.

In Swat, some residents celebrated in the streets, hoping the law would herald a return of peace to the violence-ridden valley, home to a ski resort and a one-time honeymooners' favourite. But that outcome was far from certain.

Human rights activists condemned the law, worrying it would presage the spread of Taliban rule to other parts of Pakistan. "I don't think this law is going to appease the Taliban. It's just going to give them a taste of victory," said Asma Jahangir, the United Nations special rapporteur on relig­ious freedoms.