Tens of thousands of civilians, many on foot or donkey-led carts, took advantage of a lifted curfew to flee Pakistan’s embattled Swat Valley, while the army said it had killed 400 to 500 militants in its battle against the Taliban.

Afghanistan’s Taliban Government has reportedly lost control of the eastern city of Jalalabad and the southern city of Kandahar after local tribesmen rose up against the crumbling regime.

The Taliban stronghold of Jalalabad was reported to have fallen today to a warlord who has refused to ally himself to either side in the war for Afghanistan.