It began like any other morning in Pakistan’s Army Public School in the north-western city of Peshawar. Students pored over their books. Teachers ruffled through notes and gave lectures.

Pakistan’s army lifted its curfew in the battle-scarred Swat Valley today, allowing thousands to flee as troops prepared for street-by-street battles with Taliban militants entrenched in the valley’s biggest town.

PAKISTANI forces attacked Taliban militants in the Swat valley yesterday, as concern grew about the fate of nearly a million people displaced by an upsurge in violence.