The Pakistan government is claiming that over 700 of the Taliban have been killed. The authorities are ordering the Army to "eliminate" Taliban fighters. It is creating a unstable situation in Pakistan, and Pakistan bloggers have created a Human Appeal International Fund for the 350K+ refugees.
The army yesterday ordered residents to flee the Swat valley during a lull in fighting, triggering a further exodus and raising expectations of a significant ground offensive against the Taliban.
Miles of traffic jams snaked out of the valley as tens of thousands of people escaped the fighting by all available means including donkey-drawn carts and rickshaws.
The fight is being closely watched by the US, which fears al-Qaida will try to profit from Pakistan's turmoil.
Intelligence officials say Taliban advances in Swat and Buner have helped al-Qaida in its recruiting efforts aimed at young fighters across the Middle East, north Africa and central Asia.
"They smell blood, and they are intoxicated by the idea of a jihadist takeover in Pakistan," Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst who recently led the Obama administration's policy review of Pakistan and Afghanistan, told the New York Times.