Street battles are continuing to rage in the Pakistani town of Mingora in the Swat valley, where troops are engaged in an all-out offensive against Taliban fighters.
As the fighting continued on Monday, a Pakistani military spokesman said that six Taliban fighters had been killed in an explosion in the town of Kabal, 20km west of Mingora.
The spokesman also said the military was regaining control in Mingora, the main city in the volatile Swat valley.
Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from Islamabad, said the military had told him they would take complete control of the city within 7-10 days.
"They have said it is house-to-house operations, moving very slowly from the outskirts of the city into the core."
Meanwhile, Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman, said late on Sunday Taliban fighters would not attack the army in Mingora to avoid civilian casualties.
"We have seen when the army retaliate for our attacks they always kill civilians ... We do not want that," Khan told the Associated Press.
But Khan denied it was a call for a ceasefire and said the Taliban fighters were not withdrawing from Mingora.
"This is a long war and we will fight it strategically.''
"We will continue fighting until an Islamic system is enforced."
Opposition protest
On Sunday, hundreds of supporters of Pakistan's opposition Jamaat-i-Islami party demonstrated in the capital, Islamabad, against the military's offensive in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
Our correspondent said it was the first major protest against the offensive.
"To this point there has been absolutely total political support for the ongoing operation in Swat valley," Hanna said.
"But now there is the first sign that there are sectors in society who are opposed to what is going on."
Many of the protesters carried banners condemning the role of the United States in Pakistan.
Washington has declared its support for the military operation in the NWFP, after criticizing a peace deal signed by Islamabad and pro-Taliban groups in the region in February.
Qazi Hussein Ahmed, the leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, told Al Jazeera that the military offensive was directed at the "innocent people of Malakand division".
Swat falls within the Malakand division.
"They have targeted the population by bombardment from the air and use of artillery ... they will hit the population, their villages, their towns and a fear has been created among the people," he said.
Civilians' plight
Mingora, the administrative and business hub of Swat in the NWFP, has been under the effective control of Taliban fighters for weeks.
Many of the 300,000 people who live in Mingora are believed to have fled since the military began its offensive in Swat, Lower Dir and Buner districts of the NWFP several weeks ago.
However, the military says that between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians remain trapped in Mingora, with dwindling supplies of food and no access to medical care.
PHOTO CAPTION
Pakistani troops patrol a village in Buner district on May 22.
Agencies