Pakistan's military today pressed its offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest of the country after tens of thousands more people fled the conflict zone.

civilian fee pakistan northern conflict zones 110509 02 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, in what is emerging as a grave humanitarian crisis.

"By Friday evening, 987,140 people were registered as displaced since May 2," UN refugee agency spokeswoman Ariane Rummery told AFP .

She said the displaced people had been registered in 23 camps set up in different parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

"There may be thousands or more, who fled Swat but have not been registered as yet," Rummery said.

Exhausted and living under canvas in camps that offer little protection from the searing heat of the Pakistani plains, far from the cool mountain air to which they are accustomed, the displaced lashed out at the army offensive.

"The government should give us peace. We have no need for tents, for food or for money. Give us peace and give us our homes," said Hayat Ullah, a grandfather who came with his wife, daughters and children from Mingora.

"We grow beards, we believe in purdah for women and stopping singing and music - that's good because that's our way of Islam.

"We didn't come here because of the Taliban, we came here after the shelling and bombardment of the government," he said in the government-run camp Jalala in Mardan district where children queued for tea and ice for their parents.

No power or fresh drinking water

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.

More than 940 Taliban militants and 45 soldiers have been killed so far in the ongoing military operation launched since April 26 in Lower Dir, Buner and Swat districts.

However, there is no independent confirmation of the figures and no word on civilian casualties.

civilian fee pakistan northern conflict zones 110509 06 "Helicopter gunships and fighter jets shelled militant hideouts in Peochar, Shamozai and Khwaza Khela areas of Swat, which started last night and continued until this morning," a military official said on condition of anonymity.

The military said up to 15,000 troops were taking on about 4,000 well-armed fighters in Swat, where Islamabad has ordered a battle to "eliminate" Islamist militants, branded by Washington the greatest terror threat to the West.

10 militants killed near Afghan border

The army says its troops have encircled Mingora, which is held by Islamist fighters who have waged a brutal insurgency to extend their control and enforce an uncompromising version of Islamic syariah law.

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.

As the troops continued their offensive in the northwest, a suspected US missile strike in the tribal region of North Waziristan near the Afghan border killed 10 militants, two of them foreigners.

The nationality of the two foreigners, a term that Pakistani officials use for Al-Qaeda militants, was not immediately known.

The strike was the second suspected drone attack in the past four days. Eight militants were killed in an earlier strike on Tuesday in South Waziristan tribal region. - AFP