Civilians are trying to escape fighting in Pakistan's Swat valley as government troops step up their offensive against Taliban militants after the collapse of a peace deal in the region.

Military helicopters and warplanes were pounding suspected Taliban positions in Swat on Thursday.  

Newly arrived refugees from Pakistan's troubled areas of in the Swat valley, wait for tents in a camp in Mardan near Peshawar, Pakistan, 06 May 2007

Authorities temporarily relaxed their curfew in the region, and provincial officials were bracing for a flood of tens of thousands of displaced civilians.

A spokesman for Sufi Muhammad, the radical Muslim cleric who helped negotiate the short-lived cease-fire, said one of Muhammad's sons was killed Thursday when a bomb or artillery shell hit his house in nearby Dir district.

The Pakistani military says more than 80 Taliban militants and two soldiers were killed in Swat and nearby Buner on Wednesday.

There were also reports of civilian casualties in the fighting, but no numbers were available.

It is the deadliest outbreak of fighting since local officials signed a controversial peace deal with Islamist militants in Malakand Division in February.

A provincial official - Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain - said the militants violated the deal that required them to disarm in exchange for the establishment of strict Islamic law (Sharia) in Malakand. The official also accused the militants of trying to set up a parallel government in the area.

Pakistan's army has not said whether it is planning an all-out assault on Swat. But many in Pakistan believe extremist activities by the Taliban appear to have reduced public support for its cause. An army spokesman says that will help the military in case a new offensive is launched in Swat.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.