The Pakistani military says it killed more than 60 militants in Wednesday's offensive in the northwestern mountainous region.

Army helicopters, gunships and mortar teams pounded militant strongholds in Swat Valley and neighboring Buner, just 100 kilometers from the capital Islamabad.

Pakistani soldiers are seen on their way to Pakistan's troubled valley of Swat where government security forces are fighting with Taliban militants, in Mardan near Peshawar, Pakistan on Wednesday, May 6, 2009. [Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo]

A military statement says the Taliban killed 4 soldiers. The military says government troops have halted a Taliban push towards the capital.

Since fighting broke out on Tuesday, thousands of men, women and children have fled Swat's main town of Mingora and surrounding districts.

The clashes follow the collapse of a three-month-old truce in Swat that was widely criticized in the West as a surrender to the militants.

(CCTV May 8, 2009)