DHAKA: Hundreds of Taliban fighters rushed to disguise themselves with new haircuts in the weeks before a Pakistani army assault, it has emerged, as refugees revealed details of life under the militants - and their taste for imported luxuries.

Azam Khan was one of the top barbers in Miranshah, 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 in June.

He told media 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, the town where most civilians fled, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1506 HRS, JULY 05, 2014