ISLAMABAD , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- Pakistani fighter jets pounded Taliban targets in the country 's northwestern region Tuesday , part of a wider military crackdown on militants inside its borders . A Pakistan army gunship flies over the troubled Dir region on Monday . The airstrikes killed between 70 and 75 militants in the Dir district and flushed out many more , military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas told reporters . It is part of the Pakistani army 's intensified drive against the Taliban in its restive tribal regions . The Pakistani government has been criticized for not cracking down on militants along its border with Afghanistan . As a result , the U.S. military has carried out drone attacks against militant targets in Pakistan , rankling Pakistan . But Pakistan 's recent military crackdown has led to an exodus of civilians in the region . Between 15,000 and 30,000 residents have left the Dir district , which is less than 160 km ( 100 miles ) northwest of the capital , Islamabad , according to an aid agency operating in the region . The Pakistani military on Tuesday completed its operation to eliminate and expel militants in Dir and is now focusing on the Buner district , Abbas said . About 300 militants entered Buner a few days ago in violation of the Taliban 's recent agreement to leave the district , he said . Buner is about 60 miles away from Islamabad , but Abbas said the militants posed no threat to the capital city . Fighter jets pounded targets in Buner and the Swat Valley in an effort to block the militants ' entry and exit points , he added . The general also released a recording of what he said was a conversation between a regional Taliban commander , Maulana Fazlullah , and some of his lieutenants . On the call , the purported Taliban leaders discuss how to stage an announced retreat from Buner last weekend while remaining in control of the territory . `` Those who will remain there will stay apart , so that the world gets to know that Taliban have left Buner , '' one of the commanders says , according to the transcript . `` Not more than two Taliban should sit on a vehicle . Moulvi Sahib will lead . Other vehicles will follow . '' Showing off for news organizations `` is all right , but we have to implement a permanent plan , '' Fazlullah said . Pakistan 's government insists that its military crackdown has growing popular support for taking on the Taliban -- an issue that has divided the Pakistani people , particularly in the Pashtun areas . `` The government has been hesitant and divided in going after these guys , but public opinion -- judging by what I read in the Pakistani newspapers -- may be shifting , '' analyst Michael Krepon told CNN . `` They have thought the Taliban is America 's war , `` said Krepon , a co-founder of the Stimson Center , a Washington-based think tank . `` We led them to that conclusion with our drone attacks on Pakistani soil . '' But he warned that a Pakistani military operation against what is sometimes perceived as `` going after its own people '' will not be an easy task for the government . `` The military will go into the field and reclaim territory , but it 's not going to be pretty and it 's not going to be easy , '' he said . Amnesty International 's Asia Pacific director Sam Zarifi told CNN he thinks the test for Pakistan 's government is not a military defeat over the Taliban , but `` whether the schools will once again open , whether the health units will once again operate ( in Buner ) . '' He also warned that a Pakistani military operation could be worse than Taliban rule in Buner and other regions . `` What people are telling us over and over again from Buner , from Swat , and other areas , is that they 're very intimidated , very scared about life under the Taliban , '' Zarifi said . `` But what really frightens them is the idea that the Pakistani military will launch operations . '' He said that local residents have told Amnesty in recent months that Pakistani military operations have `` destroyed houses , destroyed markets , without in any way impacting the Taliban . '' `` And that 's what really frightens people , '' he said . `` We 've seen over 500,000 people are now registered as displaced from areas and most of those are people who are afraid of military operations . '' CNN 's Samson Desta , Nic Robertson and Tricia Escobedo contributed to this report .
NEW : Pakistani military says operation completed against militants in Dir . NEW : General releases recording of conversation he says is among Taliban leaders . Pakistan criticized for not cracking down on militants along Afghan border .