Up to 30,000 Pakistani troops have been battling Taliban fighters in South Waziristan for the last nine days.

The army said it is making progress, claiming a major victory on Saturday with the capture of Kotkai, the hometown of Hakimullah Mehsud, the Taliban leader.  

But many of the 6,000 people who live in Kotkai have been left picking through the rubble that was once their home, long after the Taliban fighters have fled.

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan has this exclusive report from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.