The man sentenced to death last week for the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage has been forcibly shaved, a US Army spokesman has said.

Maj Nidal Hasan, 42, grew a beard in accordance with his Muslim faith in the years following the attack which killed 13 soldiers and wounded 32 others.

The military death row inmate's facial hair was found during his court martial to violate strict Army grooming rules.

The army spokesman did not say when Maj Hasan was shaved.

Maj Hasan, now at the US Detention Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, claimed he opened fire at the Texas army base to protect Taliban insurgents from US troops who were about to deploy to Afghanistan.