Taliban shave off beards to flee Swat

TALIBAN fighters are shaving off their beards and trying to flee from a Pakistani army offensive in their Swat bastion, the military said, as it relaxed a curfew to allow civilians leave.

The army launched an offensive in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, last week to stop the spread of Taliban influence which had alarmed the United States and other Western allies of nuclear-armed Pakistan.

More than 900,000 civilians have fled and the United Nations has warned of a humanitarian tragedy unless Pakistan gets massive assistance.