PESHAWAR (AFP) – 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.

On Friday however Pakistan’s military suspended a curfew in a northwest city, allowing tens of thousands of civilians to flee the area.
In what is emerging as a grave humanitarian crisis, hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians have been trying to get to safety from the Swat valley, where the army launched a new offensive late last month to crush the militants.
The government suspended a curfew for people going out of Swat's main city of Mingora from dawn until mid-afternoon, and local administration chief Arshad Khan said residents had been advised to leave -- and were doing so.
“People are leaving in large numbers,” Khan said. “They are vacating their homes.”
The fighting has sent more than 834,000 people fleeing Swat as well as the areas of Lower Dir and Buner, while hundreds of thousands are believed still trapped in the conflict zone.
Refugees escaping the area say scores of bodies litter the streets, and some say the government is to blame for the carnage. There is no word on the number of civilian deaths in the area.
Pakistan's military insists it is taking all possible measures to lessen collateral damage and avoid populated areas, but analysts warn that general public support for the offensive could sour as the human cost soars.
The military says its forces have encircled Mingora, which is held by fighters who have waged a brutal insurgency to extend their control.
The advance of the militants closer to the capital Islamabad has raised concern in the United States, which has put Pakistan at the centre of its efforts to contain another Islamist insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan.
But there are also concerns that the army campaign -- including artillery bombardment, attacks by helicopter gunships and commandos dropped behind Taliban lines -- will grow more and more unpopular among Pakistan civilians.
Terrified residents in Mingora who spoke to AFP by telephone earlier this week said that the militants had planted mines and were digging trenches in anticipation of a major battle ahead.
“People are becoming mentally ill, our senses have shut down, children and woman are crying,” said one who declined to be named. “The Taliban are everywhere, and heavy exchanges of fire are routine at night.”
An official from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which this week was able to enter one of the hardest hit districts, said there was no longer any electricity or fresh drinking water.
The military says up to 15,000 troops are taking on about 4,000 well-armed fighters in Swat, where Islamabad has ordered a battle to “eliminate” the militants branded by Washington as the greatest terror threat to the West.
Before Friday, the military estimated that around 200,000 people remained in Mingora.
Based on combined military tolls, more than 870 militants and 42 troops have been killed in operations in Swat as well as Lower Dir and Buner, though there is no independent confirmation of the figures and no word on civilian deaths.
The Swat valley was once a picturesque ski resort popular with Westerners, but now it is the crucible of a fierce battle between emboldened militants and a government under intense pressure to rein them in.
Untold numbers of militants, many of whom fled there from Afghanistan after September 11, have found a virtual safe haven in the rugged and lawless areas along the border with Afghanistan that are out of government control.