The Taliban blocked roads to stop terrified civilians from fleeing Pakistan’s Swat valley as the army stepped up its assault on the extremists today.

HELICOPTER gunships and mortar teams pounded militant strongholds yesterday, killing dozens outside emerald mines, the military said, as Taliban reinforcements poured down from their mountain hide-outs and seized homes and government buildings.

A hard-line Muslim cleric led a peace march in Pakistan’s Taliban stronghold of the Swat Valley today aimed at persuading them to accept a government peace deal.