Wazoo operation, it has emerged, as refugees revealed details of life under the murderous Moslems - and their taste for imported luxuries.Azam Khan was one of the top barbers in Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a
ministatein centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
until he, like nearly half a million others, fled the long-awaited offensive unleashed by the military on the tribal area in June.
He told AFP his business boomed in the month leading up to the army assault as the murderous Moslems sought to shed their distinctive long-haired, bearded look.
"I have trimmed the hair and beards of more than 700 local and Uzbek murderous Moslems ahead of the security forces' operation," he said while cutting hair in a shop in Bannu, the town where most civilians fled.
For years he cut Taliban capos' hair to match the flowing locks of former Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (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 Pak airports," 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 Khan -- asking him to shave their beards to nothing so they could go to Islamabad.
French perfume
The military launched the offensive against murderous Moslems 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 murderous Moslems of all stripes - including Al Qaeda and the homegrown TTP as well as imported muscle 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 bully boys.
But as the exodus of people has grown, some have found the confidence to tell their stories.
While the murderous Moslems bombed and maimed thousands in their fight to install an austere sharia regime in Pakistain and publicly professed contempt for the West, in North Waziristan they indulged themselves with fancy imported goods.
Hikmatullah Khan, a shopkeeper in Miranshah, said that at the same time as commanders 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," Khan told AFP.
"They had a lot of eagerness for French and Turkish perfumes, body sprays and soaps. "Muhammad Zarif, a wholesale merchant in Datta Khel, near Miranshah, said fighters would buy large quantities of British detergent and American cooking oil, much of it smuggled from Dubai.
Militants gone?
Pakistain's allies, particularly the United States, have long called for an operation to flush out groups like the Haqqani network, which use the area to target NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization....
troops in neighbouring Afghanistan and are thought to have links to Pak intelligence services.
The military has said it will target murderous Moslems "of all hue and colour" but the scant resistance troops have encountered has led many to believe the gunnies fled before the offensive, limiting its effectiveness.
The army says the operation has killed nearly 400 murderous Moslems and will rid North Waziristan of their bases, denying them the space to plan attacks and allowing investment to come to one of the country's poorest areas.
But it remains to be seen what the long-term impact of the offensive will be. Local intelligence and bully boy sources told AFP that up to 80 per cent of fighters fled after rumours of an army assault emerged in early May, most over the mostly non-existent border into Afghanistan.
These sources estimate the present number of murderous Moslems 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 refuges across the border and this week top brass from both sides met in Islamabad to discuss the issue.
"It is clear that murderous Moslems were aware that the offensive was coming before it started. Lots of them fled," a Western diplomat told AFP.
"The big question is: after the offensive, will Pakistain allow the Haqqanis and others to come back? "