In a sign of growing public support for the Pakistani Army’s latest offensive against militants, the residents of a town in the Swat Valley have taken up arms against the Taleban and driven them away.

Hundreds of armed people in the town of Kalam confronted about 50 Taleban fighters who tried to take control of the mountain town. A local official said yesterday that several militants were killed or captured after a battle lasting several hours.

The 50,000 residents of the town — once an idyllic tourist mountain resort — have traditionally been fiercely opposed to the Islamists, who have seized a large portion of the Swat Valley and invaded neighbouring provinces in recent weeks.

Kalam had repulsed several Taleban attacks in the past but residents say that the latest clashes were the most serious. Buoyed by the success of the military offensive against the Taleban in the surrounding areas, they vowed to resist the invaders. “We will not allow Taleban to come here,” Shamshad Haqq, the deputy mayor of Kalam, declared.

Residents in many other areas in Swat have started forming militias to resist the Taleban.

On Wednesday, government forces seized control of the town of Matta, a former Taleban stronghold in Swat and the focus of the campaign against the insurgency. About 15,000 troops have been fighting an estimated 5,000 militants, in what is described by Pakistani leaders as a battle for the country’s survival.

After clearing many Taleban strongholds and supply depots in the mountains, the government troops have started closing in on the main towns, where many thousands of civilians are still trapped without food and medical aid.

Human Rights Watch has accused the Taleban of laying mines in Mingora, the main town of Swat, preventing people from leaving and effectively using them as human shields. About two million people have been forced from their homes in the worst man-made humanitarian crisis in the country’s history. UN and Pakistani government officials said that the number of refugees could rise to 2.5 million.

Pakistan’s allies pledged $224 million (£140 million) in aid after the Government warned that militants could exploit the misery. Yusuf Raza Gilani, the Prime Minister, told a donors’ conference in Islamabad yesterday that Pakistan was issuing a call for help from “all those who are committed to fighting terrorism”.

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