Tens of thousands of Pakistani civilians are fleeing a town on the border with Afghanistan following three days of fighting which has killed up to 250 people, locals and military officials said today.
About 90% of the population of Mir Ali, a town of 50,000 people in the lawless north Waziristan region, has fled the fighting using cars and tractors or on foot, a local man told the Reuters news agency.
"Just one or two people are staying behind in each house to guard their belongings," Sher Khan said.
About 50 suspected al-Qaida and Taliban-linked militants were killed in a new wave of air strikes today close to Mir Ali, an army spokesman said.
However, local resident Noor Hassan said the attack had struck the bazaar in a village just outside the town, with a number of civilians killed.
"The bombing destroyed many shops and homes," said Mr Hassan. "We are leaving."
Previously, the military said the battles - the fiercest in the region since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001 - had left 150 militants and 45 soldiers dead, with up to 15 troops listed as missing.
Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, who secured a new five-year term in office in a controversial vote at the weekend, faces intense US pressure to crack down on militant activity.
Washington fears North Waziristan has become a safe haven for al-Qaida forces, which are using it as a launching pad to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani army operation has proved unexpectedly bloody, with soldiers struggling to impose any authority in the remote, mountainous area.
The army, which has used helicopters and jets to strafe militant positions, said it had re-established contact with 35 soldiers reported missing in an ambush yesterday. Fifteen more soldiers remain unaccounted for.
The pro-Taliban rebels are well trained and equipped, and are using the "latest weaponry and lots of money" brought across the border, a Pakistani official told the AFP news agency.
Fighting has centred on Mir Ali, the second-largest town in the region. One official said up to a dozen civilians were killed yesterday after a shell hit a home. Many locals have since fled the town.
"Our homes have been severely damaged. Most families have moved to relatives' homes in neighbouring towns," resident Faridullah Khan told the agency.
Other people were using loudspeakers at the mosques to beg the military not to fire at their homes, a local resident said.
The fighting follows the collapse of several peace deals in which tribal elders were meant to curb local militancy in return for a withdrawal of security forces.
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The Pakistani army says that at least 150 to 200 Taliban militants, along with 50 Pakistani troops have been killed in  between al-Qaeda, Taliban fighters and Pakistani troops along the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan in an area known as . At least 20 other troops were injured and at least 15 are reported to be missing. 12 civilians are also reported to have been killed.

"We have told them to surrender and give up their weapons," said Major General of the Pakistani army,  Waheed Arshad. Militants say that they are going to attempt to overthrow the government and take the newly elected Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf out of power.

The battles began on Saturday October 6 in the town of Mir Ali and have lasted three days so far. Army officials say that they will "continue punitive action until complete peace is restored." The battles were triggered after several Pakistani officials were targeted and peace talks with officials in Islamabad failed to go forward.

In September, Osama bin Laden issued a new audio tape in which he told militants to resist Pakistani troops and rebel against the army. He also asked militants to seek revenge for the assault on the Red Mosque when almost 100 were killed by militants and troops.