Taliban's terrorists cut beards to escape from North Waziristan

Moreover, refugees who have spent time living under the Taliban’s rule have revealed how militants have acquired a taste for imported luxuries.

Azam Khan was one of the top barbers in Miramshah until he, like nearly half a million others, fled the long-awaited offensive unleashed by the military on the tribal area in June, the Pakistani English daily Dawn reported on Sunday.

He told media that his business boomed in the month leading up to the army assault as militants sought to shed their distinctive long-haired, bearded look.

“I have trimmed the hair and beards of more than 700 local and Uzbek militants ahead of the security forces' operation,” he told reporters. Azam now lives in Bannu as most other refugees.

For years he cut Taliban commanders' hair to match the flowing locks of former Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Hakimullah Mehsud, killed by a US drone last November, but in May, a change in style was called for.

“The same leaders came asking for trimming their beards and hair very short, saying that they were going to the Gulf and wanted to avoid problems at Pakistani airports,” the hairdresser explained.

Even Uzbeks and Tajiks with little knowledge of the local language came to him asking for shorter hair style, he added.

“Knowing little Pashto, they used to utter four words: 'mulgari (friend), machine, zero, Islamabad',” said Khan -- asking him to shave their beards to nothing so they could go to Islamabad.

The military launched an offensive against militants in North Waziristan tribal area on June 15, vowing to wipe out the strongholds they have used to wreak countless deadly terror attacks across the country.

The rugged, mountainous area on the Afghan border has been a hideout for years for Islamist militants of all stripes - including Al Qaeda and the home-grown TTP as well as foreign fighters including Uzbeks and Uighurs.

For years people from North Waziristan remained tight-lipped about life in a Taliban fiefdom, scared of being kidnapped or even beheaded if they shared information about the militants.

While terror militants have bombed and maimed thousands in their fight to install an austere sharia regime in Pakistan, publicly professing their contempt for the West, it appears that back in North Waziristan they indulged in fancy imported goods.

“They were very keen to buy foreign-branded shampoos, soaps and perfumed sprays,” a shopkeeper of Miranshah explained.

Hikmatullah Khan, a shopkeeper in Miramshah, said that while commanders were insisted he pay 300 rupees a month as a tax levy to the Taliban, their fighters were stocking up on grooming products.

Pakistan’s army says the operation has killed nearly 400 militants and will rid North Waziristan of all terror bases.

Local intelligence and militant sources told media that up to 80 per cent of fighters fled after rumours of an army assault emerged in early May, most over the porous border into Afghanistan.

These sources estimate the present number of militants to be around 2,000, down from around 10,000 before the operation. The figures are uncertain and difficult to confirm.

The army has asked Afghanistan to crack down on TTP refugees across the border and this week top brass from both sides met in Islamabad to discuss the issue.

At the same time, more than 500,000 residents of North Waziristan became refugees in other areas of Pakistan especially in the vicinity of Bannu of Khyber-pakhtoonkhwa province. Beside the current hardships faced by IDPs, including food shortage and health related problems, it is likely such exodus will have long term effect in the region.