Police have arrested 39 suspected Taleban fighters hiding among refugees from a military offensive to rout militants from Pakistan's Swat Valley, a senior officer said Friday. The suspected Taleban had cut their hair short and shaved their beards in a bid to disguise themselves from authorities and blend in with civilians who have fled the month-old campaign in the country's northwest, said local police chief Syed Akhtar Ali Shah. Aid agencies say more than 160,000 refugees are now living in about a dozen sweltering camps just south of the Swat Valley in towns such as Mardan, with many of the rest being taken in by family or residents. “These Taleban have mixed up themselves among the refugees,” Shah, the Mardan police chief, told reporters. “They have shaven off their beards.” He said 12 of the suspects were arrested in camps and the rest in different houses where refugees are staying with relatives or have rented. He accused them of violence in Swat and nearby Buner, which the Taleban entered last month from Swat, triggering the military's offensive. The military says it has killed more than 1,100 militants in its offensive, which is strongly backed by Washington and viewed as a test of the Pakistani government's resolve to quell Islamic extremism.
