Civilians die fleeing Swat fight

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At least 12 civilians have been killed in an attack by Pakistani jet fighters in the Upper Dir region near Swat, officials and witnesses said.

The victims, including women and children, were members of a family fleeing the fighting, they said.

Meanwhile, the army says that 25 Taleban militants have been killed in recent fighting in Swat.

The army has been fighting the Taleban in Swat and other areas since a peace deal broke down earlier this month.

Nearly 1.5 million people have been displaced by this month's fighting in the north-western region, the United Nations refugee agency says.

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The UN has called for urgent and massive international help.

It says that 1.45 million people have been displaced since 2 May, in addition to those displaced by fighting last year - bringing the total to more than two million.

'Jet attack'

Officials who had spoken to the fleeing families told the BBC Urdu service that the civilians were attacked in the mountain passes connecting Swat's Peochar region with Warai town of Upper Dir.

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Eyewitnesses said they saw at least 12 bodies on a mountain on the Swat side but could not retrieve them for fear of another aerial attack.

They said the families were targeted by gunship helicopters, but police said they might have been hit by a stray shell.

On Monday night, Pakistan army spokesman told reporters that they had killed 25 militants in Swat over the past 24 hours.

One army officer was also killed in Peochar, while seven soldiers were injured, he said.

Hand-to-hand fighting

Meanwhile, infantry units were readying for a ground offensive in the Matta and Kanju areas where hand-to-hand fighting is expected, he said.

The UN has called for massive international help

The military says more than 1,000 militants have been killed in the fresh offensive launched two weeks ago.

Officials say nearly 1.4 million people have fled the war zones in Swat, Dir and Buner districts of Malakand region since last month.

The exodus was partly encouraged by the military to keep civilian deaths to a minimum in a hand-to-hand fight which it expects in some parts of Swat valley.

On Monday, an army spokesman said most areas in Dir and Buner had been secured while infantry troops were being launched for a final ground offensive in Swat where the army hopes to trap militants and lure them into a street fight.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's major political parties have declared support for the government's fight against militants in the north-western region of Malakand.

A summit of 43 political parties unanimously resolved on Monday to support the government's efforts to "defend the constitution and sovereignty" of the state.

The signatories to the resolution include some of the staunchest critics of military operation against militants.

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