( CNN ) -- Pakistani civilians were given a brief window on Friday to flee the ongoing fighting between government forces and Taliban militants in the country 's north , according to military officials . Pakistani civilians pack a bus leaving Mingora , the capital of the troubled Swat Valley . The Pakistan army is trying to push the Taliban away from regions within the troubled Swat Valley . A curfew was relaxed until 2 p.m. local time Friday in Kabal , Kanju and Mingora -- in the Swat Valley -- and in Malakand Agency , which is a separate district . The government provided an estimated 150 vehicles to evacuate people , as private cars are not allowed to enter Mingora . The Taliban have been concentrating forces there -- digging trenches , laying mines , taking positions on rooftops , according to strategic expert Reva Bhalla of Stratfor , a firm that describes itself as a global intelligence company . `` The Taliban are concentrating forces in Mingora -- digging trenches , laying mines , taking positions on rooftops , '' said Bhalla . `` It is not clear if the Pakistani military is trained and even equipped to go into a situation like that , '' she said , adding that even the United States military `` would have to think twice '' about such an offensive . She estimates there are 5,000 Taliban fighters in the area . `` The question is : Are they going to try to stand and fight , or try to regroup ? '' she asked . With a government offensive against the Taliban nearly three weeks old , a spokesman for Pakistan 's army said the military intends to drive the Taliban out of the contested area . `` The whole resolve of the government and the military is to once and for all finish the Taliban from the Valley of Swat , '' Pakistani military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told CNN 's Reza Sayah . The Pakistani military is trying to push the Taliban away from the heavily forested and mountainous regions of the Swat district toward the south , so the army can encircle the militants , Bhalla added . According to the chief minister of Pakistan 's North West Frontier Province , some 1.5 million people have been displaced by 10 months of fighting between the military and Taliban militants along its border with Afghanistan . The number of people at the Yar Hussain displaced-persons camp in Swabi district is expected to reach 2 million , Amir Haider Hoti said . The military announced earlier this week the number was 1.3 million . The huge refugee camps that the conflict is creating could be `` the perfect recruiting grounds for the Taliban to prey on , '' Bhalla said . Meanwhile , the United Nations ' top official on refugees told CNN Thursday the world must launch a `` massive international effort '' to care for the refugees , or it will be `` absolutely impossible '' to provide for them . Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani , in a speech to parliament Thursday , called the refugee crisis a massive and unprecedented predicament . `` They are our own people and their children are my children , '' Gilani said .
Curfew relaxed from 2 p.m. until 6 a.m. local time in Swat Valley , Malakand . Taliban `` digging trenches , laying mines '' in disputed Pakistan , expert says . western city wants to push Taliban south so it can encircle militants , expert says . Some 1.5 million people have been displaced by Thursday of fighting .