Early Bird summary
Monday’s Early Bird leads with an article from the New York Times reporting that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited southern Afghanistan late last week not only to assess the American war effort, but also to showcase the kind of conflict he thinks the military must prepare to fight in the years ahead.
Mr. Gates predicted more of these messy, unconventional wars, and he argued that this kind of conflict requires America to shift spending to items like mine-resistant vehicles, surveillance drones and medical-evacuation helicopters, at the expense of tanks, bombers and aircraft carriers.
But as Mr. Gates returned to Washington on Saturday for what will mostly likely be a lengthy, detailed and often hostile series of Congressional budget hearings this week, opponents of his risk assessment are attacking the spending plan as rendering America unprepared for traditional war.
They say the proposal goes too far in shifting money to unconventional warfare from the weapons needed to deter and defeat an enemy nation. And Mr. Gates’ focus on counterinsurgency training, they say, means that troops have not spent enough time honing their skills for conventional conflict.
A related story in the Washington Times reports that some conservatives who welcomed President Obama's decision to keep Robert M. Gates as defense secretary are already having second thoughts.
Decisions in the first 100 days of the new administration regarding future weapons systems have dismayed members of the Air Force fighter community and others who had considered the former CIA chief one of their own.
Baker Springs, a budget analyst at the Heritage Foundation, described Mr. Gates' first months under Mr. Obama as "not very good" and a reversion to policies that weakened U.S. defenses.
"We see a consistent chipping away at the defense budget at the top line level, and the structure of the defense budget internally favoring personnel and operations accounts over modernization," Mr. Springs said. "I think he is lining the department up for another procurement holiday when we just came out of one in the 1990s."
The Washington Post reports that, citing the Pentagon's recent success in meeting its manpower needs, the Obama administration is proposing to cut the Defense Department's budget for recruiting by nearly $800 million, or 11 percent, for 2010.
The proposed budget would reverse years of increased spending aimed at bolstering military forces strained by six years of combat in Iraq and nearly eight in Afghanistan. From 2004 to 2008, annual funding for recruiting and retention programs more than doubled, from $3.4 billion to $7.7 billion.
Amid a deep recession that has made the military a more appealing option for job seekers, all the armed services have consistently met or exceeded their recruiting and retention goals in recent months, according to the Pentagon.
"As a result of the services' recent success in maintaining this quality force, such a high level of funding for recruiting and retention is no longer required," the White House said in its budget, released Thursday.
To meet the cuts, the White House said, the military services would have to cap recruiting and retention programs at 2009 levels, lower enlistment and reenlistment bonuses, reduce the advertising budget, and cut the number of recruiters.
National security adviser James L. Jones said yesterday that the U.S. military should keep open
the option of airstrikes against Taliban forces in western Afghanistan, but he acknowledged warnings by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that civilian deaths from such attacks are damaging both governments' moral standing and support, according to the Washington Post.
The Afghan government says as many as 130 civilians were killed last Monday and Tuesday by U.S. bombs. Such a toll would rank as the deadliest incident since U.S. forces began fighting in Afghanistan in 2001, but U.S. officials called the number of casualties "extremely overexaggerated."
The Washington Times reports that The head of the U.S. Central Command said Sunday that the Taliban's increasing foothold in the mountains of Pakistan "threatens the very existence" of the country, but he said he is confident that the nation's military will protect its nuclear arsenal and that Taliban brutality has provoked Pakistanis to unite against the militia.
"Certainly the next few weeks will be very important in this effort to roll back, if you will, this existential threat, a true threat to Pakistan's very existence that has been posed by the Pakistani Taliban," Gen. David H. Petraeus said on "Fox News Sunday."
But Gen. Petraeus added that reports of brutality and repression by the Taliban in northwestern Pakistan have helped rally public support for the country's military offensive into the region to fight the militant organization - a scenario that could turn the tide in Pakistan's battle to crush the group.
"The actions of the Pakistani Taliban ... have galvanized all of Pakistan - not just the president and the prime minister but also even the opposition leaders, virtually all the elements of the political spectrum and the people," the general said. "So there is a degree of unanimity that there must be swift and effective action taken against the Taliban in Pakistan."
The Obama administration is holding "preliminary discussions" about changing the military's prohibition against openly gay service members, national security adviser James Jones said yesterday, the Boston Globe reports.
President Obama pledged during the presidential campaign to change the policy. But the issue has been on the back burner as the White House tackles other issues such as the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jones said he does not know whether the policy, known as "don't ask, don't tell," will be overturned, and indicated a cautious approach.
"We have a lot on our plate right now. It has to be teed up at the right time . . . to do this the right way," Jones said on the ABC program "This Week."
George Stephanopolous interview National Security Adviser Gen. Jim Jones on ABC’s “This Week” program. For a transcript, follow this link.
The New York Times reports that, as Taliban militants push deeper into Pakistan’s settled areas, foreign operatives of Al Qaeda who had focused on plotting attacks against the West are seizing on the turmoil to sow chaos in Pakistan and strengthen the hand of the militant Islamist groups there, according to American and Pakistani intelligence officials.One indication came April 19, when a truck parked inside a Qaeda compound in South Waziristan, in Pakistan’s tribal areas, erupted in a fireball when it was struck by a C.I.A. missile. American intelligence officials say that the truck had been loaded with high explosives, apparently to be used as a bomb, and that while its ultimate target remains unclear, the bomb would have been more devastating than the suicide bombing that killed more than 50 people at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September.
Al Qaeda’s leaders — a predominantly Arab group of Egyptians, Saudis and Yemenis, as well as other nationalities like Uzbeks — for years have nurtured ties to Pakistani militant groups like the Taliban operating in the mountains of Pakistan. The foreign operatives have historically set their sights on targets loftier than those selected by the local militant groups, aiming for spectacular attacks against the West, but they may see new opportunity in the recent violence.
The debate over how -- and for how long -- the United States should fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan returns to Washington this week as a wary Congress begins considering new funding for the conflicts, the Miami Herald reports.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to spar over a $96.7 billion plan to pay this year's costs for the wars and flu prevention strategies, with final passage likely by the end of the week.
The Senate Appropriations Committee plans to write its version on Thursday.Lawmakers expect at least two major conflicts of their own -- one over methods of measuring the wars' progress, and the other dealing with detainees from soon-to-be-closed Guantánamo Bay prison.
The House bill would require President Barack Obama to tell Congress by Oct. 1, in writing, his plan for closing the facility in Cuba that Obama has said will close by Jan. 22, 2010. The measure doesn't include $80 million the administration sought for closing Guantánamo.
The $84.5 billion in war funding, which would push the cost of the two conflicts past $1 trillion since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is also likely to trigger a lively fight, pitting Democrat against Democrat.
The New York Times reports that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Sunday that the planned “reset” in relations between Russia and the United States had been hampered by NATO exercises in Georgia, and that he hoped the United States would “step on the brake hard” to prevent the relationship from deteriorating.
In an interview with Japanese news services before a visit to Tokyo, Mr. Putin also said negotiations on strategic nuclear weapons should be linked to changes in the United States’ planned missile-defense system. Russia has long complained that proposed missile-defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic would pose a threat to Russia, and Mr. Putin said offensive and defensive capacities were “inseparably bound up.”
“I don’t think you have to be an expert to see that if one side wants to or has an umbrella against various threats, it can begin to suffer from the illusion that it is permissible to do whatever it likes, and then its actions will become many times more aggressive and the threat of a global confrontation will reach a danger level,” he said.
“Russia will, of course, link the issues of missile defense and everything related to it with strategic offensive weapons,” he said. He went on to say that Russia was encouraged by the United States’ disarmament agenda and was ready to begin talks about replacing the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start, which expires in December.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The Washington Post leads with news that groups representing doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical and insurance companies are vowing to slow the growth in health care costs, an apparent attempt to curry favor with the White House and to become part of the bargaining process when the administration and congressional Democrats take on health care reform later this year. (Slate Magazine)
2. Navy, Marine, Coast Guard budgets revealed: Few surprises were evident in the US Navy's budget request for fiscal 2010, although one unexpected development caught some observers off guard - the absence of an updated 30-year shipbuilding plan, which by law should accompany the budget to Capitol Hill. (Defence Pro News)
3. Georgian leader meets opponents: The Georgian President, Mikhail Saakashvili, is holding talks with opposition leaders after weeks of protests calling for his resignation. (BBC)
4. Pakistan steps up Swat offensive: Pakistan's military is stepping up an offensive against the Taleban, after a weekend in which it said it killed 200 militants in and near the Swat valley. (BBC)
2. Navy, Marine, Coast Guard budgets revealed: Few surprises were evident in the US Navy's budget request for fiscal 2010, although one unexpected development caught some observers off guard - the absence of an updated 30-year shipbuilding plan, which by law should accompany the budget to Capitol Hill. (Defence Pro News)
3. Georgian leader meets opponents: The Georgian President, Mikhail Saakashvili, is holding talks with opposition leaders after weeks of protests calling for his resignation. (BBC)
4. Pakistan steps up Swat offensive: Pakistan's military is stepping up an offensive against the Taleban, after a weekend in which it said it killed 200 militants in and near the Swat valley. (BBC)
The Washington Post leads with news that groups representing doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical and insurance companies are vowing to slow the growth in health care costs, an apparent attempt to curry favor with the White House and to become part of the bargaining process when the administration and congressional Democrats take on health care reform later this year. The Wall Street Journal's world-wide news box also leads with the story. The New York Times leads with U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials saying that al-Qaida has shifted its attention from plotting attacks on the West and now focuses on fomenting chaos in Pakistan and trying to support Islamist groups there.
USA Today leads with word that the White House will release a report today offering more evidence for the claim that the stimulus plan will "save or create" 3.5 million jobs. Republicans have contested the estimate; it's not clear from the story whether the new report is a response to that skepticism or would have been composed regardless. The Los Angeles Times leads with an analysis of how the increasing number of naturalized citizens is changing the face of politics in California, which is home to about one-third of the nation's new citizens. For example, "[s]everal polls show that Latinos and Asians are more supportive than whites of public investments and broad services, even if they require higher taxes," the paper writes.
U.S. officials who talked to the NYT said al-Qaida's increasing Pakistan focus is a result of the U.S. drone-bombing campaign there, which has killed some key al-Qaida leaders and reduced the group's capacity to carry out attacks abroad. And an American terrorism expert says al-Qaida may be increasing its activities in Pakistan to foment so much violence that the Pakistani government will ask the U.S. government to scale back its drone bombings, allowing al-Qaida to regroup and again plan attacks in the West.
The groups offering to make the health care cuts—representing doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical and insurance companies—were among the same who opposed the Clinton administration's attempts at health care reforms. "But the explosive cost of health care has since strangled pay raises for most workers and slowed profits for many business, causing the industry to dramatically shift its posture," the Post writes. The figure the Post uses in its lede is $2 trillion, which sounds a lot less impressive when you note, as the Post does two grafs down, that that figure represents about a whopping 1.5 percent decrease in the amount health care costs would otherwise have increased. Still, it seems to have done the trick; the White House welcomed the move: "I don't think there can be a more significant step to help struggling families and the federal budget," one unnamed administration official said.
The NYT, which puts the story inside, sounds a skeptical note, observing that the plan has few details: "In the abstract, slowing the growth of health spending is a goal on which consumers and health care providers agree. But experience shows that specific proposals touch off fierce battles among interest groups fighting to expand their share of health care money."
A global recession is appearing less likely, and, as a result, investors are putting money into emerging economies like Russia, China, and Brazil, the Wall Street Journal reports. Russian stocks are currently the best performers in the world, followed by Brazilians. "Investors appear to be trying to get in early on a long-term bet: Emerging-market economies will get back into their grooves long before the U.S. or Europe shake off the global crisis," the Journal writes.
USA Today leads with word that the White House will release a report today offering more evidence for the claim that the stimulus plan will "save or create" 3.5 million jobs. Republicans have contested the estimate; it's not clear from the story whether the new report is a response to that skepticism or would have been composed regardless. The Los Angeles Times leads with an analysis of how the increasing number of naturalized citizens is changing the face of politics in California, which is home to about one-third of the nation's new citizens. For example, "[s]everal polls show that Latinos and Asians are more supportive than whites of public investments and broad services, even if they require higher taxes," the paper writes.
U.S. officials who talked to the NYT said al-Qaida's increasing Pakistan focus is a result of the U.S. drone-bombing campaign there, which has killed some key al-Qaida leaders and reduced the group's capacity to carry out attacks abroad. And an American terrorism expert says al-Qaida may be increasing its activities in Pakistan to foment so much violence that the Pakistani government will ask the U.S. government to scale back its drone bombings, allowing al-Qaida to regroup and again plan attacks in the West.
The groups offering to make the health care cuts—representing doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical and insurance companies—were among the same who opposed the Clinton administration's attempts at health care reforms. "But the explosive cost of health care has since strangled pay raises for most workers and slowed profits for many business, causing the industry to dramatically shift its posture," the Post writes. The figure the Post uses in its lede is $2 trillion, which sounds a lot less impressive when you note, as the Post does two grafs down, that that figure represents about a whopping 1.5 percent decrease in the amount health care costs would otherwise have increased. Still, it seems to have done the trick; the White House welcomed the move: "I don't think there can be a more significant step to help struggling families and the federal budget," one unnamed administration official said.
The NYT, which puts the story inside, sounds a skeptical note, observing that the plan has few details: "In the abstract, slowing the growth of health spending is a goal on which consumers and health care providers agree. But experience shows that specific proposals touch off fierce battles among interest groups fighting to expand their share of health care money."
A global recession is appearing less likely, and, as a result, investors are putting money into emerging economies like Russia, China, and Brazil, the Wall Street Journal reports. Russian stocks are currently the best performers in the world, followed by Brazilians. "Investors appear to be trying to get in early on a long-term bet: Emerging-market economies will get back into their grooves long before the U.S. or Europe shake off the global crisis," the Journal writes.
US Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard budget details revealed
10:28 GMT, May 10, 2009 Few surprises were evident in the US Navy's budget request for fiscal 2010, although one unexpected development caught some observers off guard - the absence of an updated 30-year shipbuilding plan, which by law should accompany the budget to Capitol Hill."It would be inappropriate" to submit the plan before the 2009 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), Rear Adm. John Blake, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget, told reporters at the Pentagon during a press briefing May 7. Blake explained that the QDR would set requirements for the fleet and an updated plan would be submitted next year.
Related Topics
Also absent was a 30-year aviation plan, which Congress last year mandated for the first time. The requirement for both plans to be submitted on an annual basis is included under Title X of the U.S. Code.
The Navy is asking Congress for $172 billion in 2010, including $15 billion in supplemental funding requests. The budget breaks down as $45 billion for procurement of aircraft, ships, weapons, ammunition and Marine Corps gear; $44 billion for personnel; $43 billion for operations and maintenance; $19 billion for researchand development; and $5 billion for military construction and other infrastructure needs.
The budget calls for an end strength of 328,000 sailors, including 4,400 temporary Individual Augmentees paid out of contingency accounts, and 202,100 Marines. The Navy number represents a halt to downsizing, while the Marine Corps number represents the culmination of growth that began in 2006.
Navy civilian personnel also grow under the new budget request, jumping 1,395 positions to a total of 195,643 employees.
Eight ships make up the Navy's shipbuilding request, with another ship requested for the Army but managed by the Navy. The new ships are one Virginia-class SSN 774 nuclear attack submarine, one Arleigh Burke-class DDG 51 destroyer, three Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), two Lewis and Clark-class T-AKE 1 auxiliary dry cargo ships, and one Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV). Another JHSV is included in the Pentagon request for the Army.
A total of 203 aircraft are in the Navy budget request, including 16 F-35B short-takeoff, vertical-landing versions of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and four F-35C carrier variants. The F-35Cs are the first of the type to be ordered and will be used for operational testing and evaluation.
The Navy also is requesting nine F/A-18 Super Hornets - down nine from the 18 projected in last year's budget - and 22 EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
Other aircraft numbers include: 30 MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft; 28 AH-1Z and UH-1Y Marine Corps helicopters; 18 MH-60S and 24 MH-60R helos; two E-2D Advanced Hawkeye early warning and detection aircraft (with a third planned aircraft eliminated to pay for research-and-development cost increases); one C-40A transport aircraft; 38 T-6 A and B Texan II Joint Primary Air Training System planes; six P-8A Poseidon maritime multimission aircraft; and five MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical takeoff UAVs.
Previous plans to buy three VH-71 helicopters were canceled along with termination of the entire VH-71 presidential helicopter program, Blake said.
Of $19.3 billion requested for research and development, the largest portions are $1.7 billion for the JSF and $1.2 billion for the P-8A. The biggest R&D increases are $495 million for the new SSBN(X) ballistic missile submarine replacement program - up from $15 million a year ago - and a $92 million jump to $340 million for the CG(X) advanced cruiser program. The most significant declines were a drop from $832 million a year ago for the VH-71 to $85 million in 2010, and shrinkage of last year's $129 million for Growler aircraft to $55 million in 2010.
In the Marine Corps and Navy vehicle category, no further Mine-Resistant Armor Protected (MRAP) vehicles have been requested - in line with the 2009 budget - but over a thousand expanded-capacity Humvee vehicles are in the request: 52 Marine vehicles in the baseline budget, 933 in the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) request, and 85 for the Navy. Procurement of new Logistics Vehicle System Replacement trucks for the Marine Corps continues, with 496 trucks in the baseline budget and another 95 in the OCO request.
Ballistic missile defense (BMD) funding requests from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) include nearly $1.7 billion for the Aegis BMD program, including upgrades of BMD signal processors on Navy destroyers; continued development of SM-3 sea-based surface-to-air missiles and initial development of a land-based SM-3 interceptor. Funding of $120 million in support of MDA's Israeli Arrow BMD program - part of a new Israeli cooperative program element - is included.
MDA requested no funds for two programs being terminated, the Multiple Kill Vehicle and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI). Both programs were dropped, MDA said, because of technical development challenges. MDA also cited the high prospective unit cost of the KEI interceptor, at more than $50 million per unit. A large, 40-foot missile, the KEI was being developed as a land-based interceptor but also was at one time considered for deployment aboard the new CG(X) cruiser.
The Coast Guard's $9.96 billion budget request includes $591 million for a variety of cutter programs; $305 million for aviation programs; and $103 million to buy another 30 Response Boat Medium patrol craft. The service is asking for $1.9 billion for port waterways and coastal security, $1.3 billion for drug interdiction, and $1.2 billion for aids to navigation.
Source: Defense News
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Quotes on US Navy Budget http://www.defpro.com/news/details/7299
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Overview of DoD's Budget Requesthttp://www.defpro.com/news/details/7298
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Other Services budget proposals:
Air Force:http://www.defpro.com/news/details/7294/
Homeland Security:http://www.defpro.com/news/details/7268/
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Related articles:
Pentagon budget shifts priority from Iraq to Afghanistan http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/306/
Georgian leader meets opponents
The Georgian President, Mikhail Saakashvili, is holding talks with opposition leaders after weeks of protests calling for his resignation.
The meeting represents the first direct talks between Mr Saakashvili and his political opponents since they launched a campaign to oust him on 9 April.
Critics accuse him of bungling the conflict with Russia last August and restricting democratic rights.
A mutiny at a military base last Tuesday raised fears of further unrest.
Correspondents say opposition parties are divided over what they hope to achieve, with some pushing for reform and others saying only Mr Saakashvili's resignation will satisfy their demands.
The meeting represents the first direct talks between Mr Saakashvili and his political opponents since they launched a campaign to oust him on 9 April.
Critics accuse him of bungling the conflict with Russia last August and restricting democratic rights.
A mutiny at a military base last Tuesday raised fears of further unrest.
Correspondents say opposition parties are divided over what they hope to achieve, with some pushing for reform and others saying only Mr Saakashvili's resignation will satisfy their demands.
President 'ready'
A statement issued on Sunday said Mr Saakashvili was ready to meet with "any political forces" to resolve the stalemate.
Mr Saakashvili, who insists he will not step down before his term ends in 2013, was due to meet four members of the coalition - Irakli Alasania, Levan Gachechiladze, Salome Zurabishvili and Kakha Shartava.
A statement issued on Sunday said Mr Saakashvili was ready to meet with "any political forces" to resolve the stalemate.
Mr Saakashvili, who insists he will not step down before his term ends in 2013, was due to meet four members of the coalition - Irakli Alasania, Levan Gachechiladze, Salome Zurabishvili and Kakha Shartava.
Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, a former ally of the president and now among his fiercest opponents, declined to attend the talks.
"I am not expecting any results from this meeting," she told Georgian television, adding that the president should resign.
Ms Zurabishvili hailed the forthcoming talks as a success for the opposition.
"In the end [Mr Saakashvili] saw reality... and realised that silence and ignorance is no longer possible," she said. "This is a sign for us that we have been on the right track during the last 30 days."
More than 10,000 people attended a protest outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Saturday, again calling for Mr Saakashvili's resignation. A smaller crowd of around 3,000 gathered on Sunday.
The demonstrations have so far been mostly peaceful, although on Wednesday they turned violent when a number of protesters clashed with police outside a police station. Several people were injured.
"I am not expecting any results from this meeting," she told Georgian television, adding that the president should resign.
Ms Zurabishvili hailed the forthcoming talks as a success for the opposition.
"In the end [Mr Saakashvili] saw reality... and realised that silence and ignorance is no longer possible," she said. "This is a sign for us that we have been on the right track during the last 30 days."
More than 10,000 people attended a protest outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Saturday, again calling for Mr Saakashvili's resignation. A smaller crowd of around 3,000 gathered on Sunday.
The demonstrations have so far been mostly peaceful, although on Wednesday they turned violent when a number of protesters clashed with police outside a police station. Several people were injured.
Nato exercises
On Tuesday, Mr Saakashvili said his government had put down a brief mutiny at the Mukhrovani tank base outside the capital.
Several serving and former military officials were at the same time arrested on suspicion of plotting a coup. The rebellion appeared to be "co-ordinated with Russia", the interior ministry said, an allegation that Moscow has vigorously denied.
On Tuesday, Mr Saakashvili said his government had put down a brief mutiny at the Mukhrovani tank base outside the capital.
Several serving and former military officials were at the same time arrested on suspicion of plotting a coup. The rebellion appeared to be "co-ordinated with Russia", the interior ministry said, an allegation that Moscow has vigorously denied.
The unrest occurred the day before the start of three weeks of Nato military exercises centred around an air base outside Tbilisi.
The command and field exercises, involving more than 1,000 soldiers from 18 countries, are taking place close to areas where Russian troops are stationed in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russia has described the drills as "an overt provocation", but Nato says they were planned before last summer's conflict, which saw Georgia's attempts to regain control of South Ossetia and its other breakaway region of Abkhazia repelled by Russian forces.
On Sunday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the exercises were a sign of the military alliance's support for Mr Saakashvili.
"Against this background they decided to carry out the war games," Putin said in an interview with Japanese media.
"Of course, this cannot be seen as anything other than support for the ruling regime. And why support such a regime?" Mr Putin said the manoeuvres represented a "step backwards" in US and Russian efforts to "reset" their relations.
On Sunday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the exercises were a sign of the military alliance's support for Mr Saakashvili.
"Against this background they decided to carry out the war games," Putin said in an interview with Japanese media.
"Of course, this cannot be seen as anything other than support for the ruling regime. And why support such a regime?" Mr Putin said the manoeuvres represented a "step backwards" in US and Russian efforts to "reset" their relations.
Pakistan steps up Swat offensive
Pakistan's military is stepping up an offensive against the Taleban, after a weekend in which it said it killed 200 militants in and near the Swat valley.
It has begun an artillery bombardment of militant positions.
The UN refugee agency has meanwhile warned of an increase in the number of civilians being displaced as tens of thousands flee the fighting.
A BBC correspondent in Islamabad says the authorities may not have the capacity to deal with the displaced.
However, the medical director of one district told the BBC the provincial government was coping well.
Meanwhile at least six people were killed and 10 injured in a suicide car bomb attack on a checkpoint near the city of Peshawar.
See a map of the region
One paramilitary soldier was among those killed at the Spintana checkpoint near the tribal town of Darra Adam Khel. Most of the injured were also security personnel.
No-one has as yet said they carried out the attack.
Darra Adam Khel has been the scene of several suicide attacks against security checkposts and convoys, and security forces have carried out several operations in the region against a local faction of the Taleban.
Call for help
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the military has been using heavy artillery to soften up the Taleban, which is currently in control of large parts of Swat valley and neighbouring regions.
Fighting is continuing throughout Malakand region, which includes Swat, Dir and Buner.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said about 200 militants were killed over the weekend, bringing the total killed in fighting in the region to 700, but it is impossible to independently confirm these figures.
The government has vowed to eliminate the militants, but our correspondent says this could be a long and difficult battle.
Civilians have been taking advantage of the lifting of a curfew to leave violence-hit areas, but our correspondent says security forces are no longer allowing them though.
It is not clear whether the government and aid agencies have the capacity to cope with the numbers.
Killian Kleinschmidt, deputy head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Pakistan, spoke of some of the difficulties.
"The floodgates are opening whenever there's a curfew lifted and, be it in Buner district or the Swat area, ... thousands and thousands of people are on the roads," he told the BBC.
"This is of course for all of us a major challenge in helping the provincial authorities to cope with that so we are all trying to rush supplies, which fortunately are available in Pakistan, to the site."
'Level best'
Arshad Ahmed Khan, the medical director of Mardan district, called for help from international aid agencies to deal with the problem.
"The provincial government is ... providing a very great job to these IDPs [internally displaced persons], including free medicine, free food, even the clothes are provided by the government," he told the BBC.
"We are doing our level best and we are catering for the IDPs, but still we feel that now is the prime time that the NGOs, they should come forward and they should take part in this activity."
The government says it expects a million internally displaced people.
Mr Kleinschmidt said more than 300,000 people had been registered as displaced at camps or registration centres.
Pakistan's government signed a peace agreement with the Swat Taleban in February, allowing Sharia law there, a move sharply criticised by Washington.
The militants then moved towards the capital, Islamabad, causing further alarm.
Up to 15,000 troops have now been deployed in the Swat valley and neighbouring areas to take on up to 5,000 militants.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has called the conflict a "fight for the survival of the country".
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The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the military has been using heavy artillery to soften up the Taleban, which is currently in control of large parts of Swat valley and neighbouring regions.
Fighting is continuing throughout Malakand region, which includes Swat, Dir and Buner.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said about 200 militants were killed over the weekend, bringing the total killed in fighting in the region to 700, but it is impossible to independently confirm these figures.
The government has vowed to eliminate the militants, but our correspondent says this could be a long and difficult battle.
Civilians have been taking advantage of the lifting of a curfew to leave violence-hit areas, but our correspondent says security forces are no longer allowing them though.
It is not clear whether the government and aid agencies have the capacity to cope with the numbers.
Killian Kleinschmidt, deputy head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Pakistan, spoke of some of the difficulties.
"The floodgates are opening whenever there's a curfew lifted and, be it in Buner district or the Swat area, ... thousands and thousands of people are on the roads," he told the BBC.
"This is of course for all of us a major challenge in helping the provincial authorities to cope with that so we are all trying to rush supplies, which fortunately are available in Pakistan, to the site."
'Level best'
Arshad Ahmed Khan, the medical director of Mardan district, called for help from international aid agencies to deal with the problem.
"The provincial government is ... providing a very great job to these IDPs [internally displaced persons], including free medicine, free food, even the clothes are provided by the government," he told the BBC.
"We are doing our level best and we are catering for the IDPs, but still we feel that now is the prime time that the NGOs, they should come forward and they should take part in this activity."
The government says it expects a million internally displaced people.
Mr Kleinschmidt said more than 300,000 people had been registered as displaced at camps or registration centres.
Pakistan's government signed a peace agreement with the Swat Taleban in February, allowing Sharia law there, a move sharply criticised by Washington.
The militants then moved towards the capital, Islamabad, causing further alarm.
Up to 15,000 troops have now been deployed in the Swat valley and neighbouring areas to take on up to 5,000 militants.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has called the conflict a "fight for the survival of the country".
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