According reports, hundreds of Pakistani Taliban militants have cut their hair and beards in a bid to escape the offensive by Pakistani military.
A local barber in Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan has said that hundreds of Taliban fighters rushed o disguise themselves with new haircuts ahead of the military offensive.
“I have trimmed the hair and beards of more than 700 local and Uzbek militants ahead of the security forces’ operation,” the local barber Azam Khan told AFP.
Khan further added that the Taliban fighters were cutting their hair and beard to avoid problems at Pakistani airports.
He said the Taliban fighters used to utter four words: ‘mulgari (friend), machine, zero, Islamabad’ as they could not speak Pashto language.
The offensive by Pakistani military was launched earlier in June in North Waziristan following a deadly attack by Pakistani Taliban on Karachi airport.
Islamic militants of all stripes including al Qaeda and the homegrown Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as well as foreign fighters including Uzbeks and Uighurs have long been hiding in the rugged and mountainous area on te Afghan border.
