Thousands evacuate:

Pakistan eases curfew in Swat

PAKISTAN: Thousands fled fighting between government troops and Taliban in northwest Pakistan's Swat valley Friday as the military suspended a curfew for eight hours, officials said.

The curfew was being eased in Swat's main city of Mingora and the nearby districts of Kanju and Kabal from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm (midnight to 0800 GMT), an official statement said.

The authorities have advised residents to leave, local administration chief Arshad Khan told AFP.

People are leaving in their thousands in their own private vehicles, he said, adding that the army had issued special passes to some 150 buses to transport people.

The military estimates that 200,000 people were left in Mingora after more than 100,000 fled on Sunday when the curfew was also relaxed.

More than 834,000 civilians have fled a relentless military assault on Taliban holed up in Pakistan's rugged northwest, where artillery pounded rebel bastions Thursday in fierce battles. War-weary civilians have been put in hastily set-up camps.

Pakistan vowed success in the 20-day campaign to rid the scenic Swat valley and surrounding areas of Islamist fighters, who have waged a brutal insurgency to impose sharia law and expand their control in the nuclear-armed country. Peshawar, Friday, AFP