About 15,000 soldiers are believed to be fighting 4,000 Taliban in Swat valley [AFP]

Major-General Athar Abbas, a Pakistani military spokesman, said on Saturday that troops had killed at least 17 Taliban fighters as they moved into in Mingora.

"Street fights have begun," Abbas said. "We have cleared some of the area in the city."

'Important phase'

There were reports that troops had captured and destroyed an explosives-laden vehicle and killed a suspected suicide bomber in the early stages of the fighting.

Mingora, the administrative and business hub of Swat, has been under the effective control of Taliban fighters for weeks.

There are reports that Mullah Fazlullah, one of the leaders of the Pakistani Taliban is in the town.

"Today the most important phase of operation Rah-e-Rast, the clearance of Mingora, has commenced," the military said in a statement on its website.

"In the last 24 hours, security forces have entered Mingora; 17 miscreants-terrorists, including important miscreant commander were killed," it said.

Civilian fears

Many of the 300,000 people who live in Mongora are believed to have fled since the military began its offensive in Swat, Lower Dir and Buner several weeks ago.

Abbas said that only 10 per cent of the population remained in the town, but the street-to-street has raised the possibility of civilian casulaties.

US-based Human Rights Watch earlier this week quoted residents as saying that the Taliban had mined Mingora and "prevented many civilians from fleeing, using them as human shields to deter attack".

It also said Pakistani forces "appeared to have taken insufficient precautionary measures in aerial and artillery attacks that have caused a high loss of civilian life".

Military commanders have stressed that they are under orders to avoid collateral damage and avoid using heavy weaponry in built-up areas.

The offensive in Swat and surrounding areas in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has triggered an exodus of nearly two million refugees from the region.

While some of those displaced have taken refuge in government camps, a majority of them have taken shelter with friends and relatives.

The military has said it had inflicted heavy losses on the Taliban, with about 1,000 fighters reported to have been killed.

Meanwhile, Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, has played down the suggestion of Asif Ali Zardari, the president, that the military offensive could be extended to the sem-autonomous South Waziristan region.

"It is not like this," Gilani said in response to a reporter's question about a possible new front. "We are not foolish to do it everywhere."

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