BANNU: Hundreds of Taliban rushed to disguise themselves with new haircuts in the weeks before the army launched Operation Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan, it has emerged, as people displaced from the tribal region revealed details of life under the militants and their taste for imported luxuries.
Azam Khan was one of the top barbers in Miramshah the main town of North Waziristan until he, like nearly half a million others, fled the long-awaited offensive unleashed by the Pakistan military on the tribal area last month.
He said his business boomed in the month leading up to the army assault as the 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 said while cutting hair in a shop in Bannu.
For years he cut Taliban militants hair to match the flowing locks of former leader of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hakeemullah Mehsud, who was 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, Azam Khan said.
Even Uzbeks and Tajiks with little knowledge of the local language came to him, he said.
Knowing little Pashto, they used to utter four words: `mulgari [friend], machine, zero, Islamabad, said Azam Khan asking him to shave their beards to nothing so they could go to Islamabad.
French perfume
The military launched the offensive against militants in North Waziristan on June 15, vowing to wipe out the strongholds they have used to wreak countless deadly terrorist attacks across the country.
The rugged, mountainous area on the Afghan border has been a hideout for years for militants of all stripes including Al Qaeda and the homegrown 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.
But as the exodus of people has grown, some have found the confidence to tell their stories.
While the militants bombed and maimed thousands in their fight to install their brand of Sharia regime in Pakistan and publicly professed contempt for the West, in North Waziristan they indulged themselves with fancy imported goods.
Hikmatullah Khan, a shopkeeper in Miramshah, said that at the same time as TTP leaders were insisting he pay 300 rupees a month tax, their fighters were stocking up on grooming products.
They were very keen to buy foreign-branded shampoos, soaps and perfumed sprays, Hikmatullah Khan said. They had a lot of eagerness for French and Turkish perfumes, body sprays and soaps.
Mohammad Zarif, a wholesale merchant in Datta Khel, said militants would buy large quantities of British detergent and American cooking oil, much of it smuggled from Dubai.
Militants gone?
The military has said it will target militants of all hue and colour but the scant resistance troops have encountered has led many to believe the insurgents fled before the offensive.
The army says the operation has killed nearly 400 militants and will rid North Waziristan of their bases, denying them the space to plan attacks and allowing investment to come to the area.
But it remains to be seen what the long-term impact of the offensive will be. Local intelligence and militant sources said that up to 80 per cent of militants 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 as 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.
It is clear that militants were aware that the offensive was coming before it started. Lots of them fled, a Western diplomat said.
The big question is: after the offensive, will Pakistan allow the Haqqanis and others to come back? AFP
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