Civilians flee Pakistan conflict zone as curfew is lifted

Thousands of fearful civilians, many on foot, fled a war-torn Pakistani valley today to take advantage of a lifted curfew that could precede an even more intense round of fighting between the military and the Taliban.

Pakistan has urged residents of the Swat Valley to leave over the past week, while its warplanes have pounded the militant-held region in what the prime minister called a “war of the country’s survival”.