Thousands are fleeing Pakistan’s Swat Valley as the Taliban swarms in, imposing a particularly harsh version of Sharia law, and violence escalates. Refugees are telling stories of how the Taliban is beheading people, slitting their throats, locking women inside the homes and banning education for girls as they try to force their radical version of Islam upon the valley’s inhabitants.

The residents wanted peace, not more violence, when they signed a pact with the Taliban, and they’re fed up with the Pakistani government’s swaying between trying to appease and battle the militants. The Taliban was supposed to lay down its arms in exchange for being allowed to impose Sharia Law in the once-bucolic tourist region. But that hasn’t happened.

There are more signs a bigger battle between the Taliban and the government is looming sooner, rather than later. Voice of America reports that military helicopters and warplanes were firing on Taliban positions in Swat today, while officials in surrounding areas readied for the flood of civilians trying to escape the violence. The refugee situation may near crisis level; up to a half-million Pakistanis are expected to flee the areas of Dir, Buner and Swat. The Pakistani army vowed today to use every tool at its disposal to defeat the Taliban.

President Obama has urged Pakistan’s government to regain control of the area. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were at the White House this week. Obama administration officials said it "unambiguously" supports Zardari — so long as he’s intent on rooting out the extremists once and for all.

"We do not think Pakistan is a failed state," said Richard C. Holbrooke, Obama’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan. But "we think it’s a state under extreme test from the enemies who are also our enemies."