Pakistani commandos prepare to enter a house in South Waziristan.

There's not much left inside. The building has been pounded with heavy weapons.

This footage was released by the Pakistani government.

It claims to have killed at least 24 Taliban militants in the past day of fighting with two of its soldiers killed.

Though with reporters not allowed in, that's impossible to verify.

Some 28,000 Pakistani soldiers have moved into Waziristan.

They're battling an estimated 10,000 Taliban members, including a thousand fighters from Uzbekistan.

The number of people fleeing the fighting is steadily increasing.

This is Dera Ismail Khan. Aid groups have arrived, but the displaced have made a long and difficult journey out of the warzone, but not everyone was able to escape.

[Gul Zaman, Displaced from Lhada]:
"I started walking on foot four days back. On the way I saw sick people, old people, even people who were injured. They have no transport. People are in great difficulty and the government is doing nothing for them."

The United Nations says more than 30,000 people have fled Waziristan in the past ten days.

Each person who arrives at the camp is frisked for weapons and
explosives.

The same is true in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. Everyone is on edge.

[Azad Abbasi, Local Resident]:
"This is a reaction to the Waziristan operation by Pakistani forces. Unless we finish our strategic partnership with America, there is going to be no peace and calm in this country."

A wave of bomb and suicide attacks has left more than 150 people, prompting a Pakistani offensive which began last Saturday.

And amid heightened security, this city and the country are bracing for further retaliatory strikes.