EXCLUSIVE: Taliban buying children for suicide bombers

cowboy · 07-05-2009, 05:20 AM

By Sara A. Carter (Contact)

Pakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is buying children as young as 7 to serve as suicide bombers in the growing spate of attacks against Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. targets, U.S. Defense Department and Pakistani officials say.
A Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said the going price for child bombers was $7,000 to $14,000 - huge sums in Pakistan, where per-capita income is about $2,600 a year.
"[Mehsud] has turned suicide bombing into a production output, not unlike [the way] Toyota outputs cars," a U.S. Defense Department official told reporters recently. He spoke on the condition that he not be named because of ongoing intelligence efforts to catch Mehsud, a prime target for a U.S. and Pakistani anti-Taliban campaign.
An apparent U.S. effort to kill Mehsud last week failed. On Sunday, the Pakistani government offered a reward of about $615,300 for information leading to the capture of Mehsud, dead or alive. The U.S. State Department has offered a bounty of $5 million for Mehsud, who is thought to be hiding in the tribal areas near the Afghan border.
Suicide bombings have become frequent in Pakistan in the past year, including high-profile attacks on hotels frequented by Westerners, as well as on Pakistani police and military installations. There has also been a spate of such attacks directed at U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.
The U.S. official said the price depends on how quickly the bomber is needed and how close the child is expected to get to the target.
"[Mehsud] produces these suicide bombers, which are sold or bartered, which can be used by [Afghan Taliban leader Mullah] Omar's Taliban or ... other groups," the U.S. official said.
In some cases, he said, the children are kidnapped and then sold to Mehsud.
Using child suicide bombers "is the grim reality of the Taliban Frankenstein that now threatens to overwhelm the Pakistani state," said Bruce Riedel, a Brookings Institution scholar who chaired a review of Pakistan-Afghanistan strategy for President Obama.
Efforts to reach a spokesman for Mehsud were not successful.

ASSOCIATED PRESS 'GRIM REALITY': Suspected of being a would-be suicide bomber, Salman Khan, 14, was arrested last month in Pakistan. The use of children in war is not unusual in the region.

Invincible · 07-05-2009, 08:25 AM

Yea 7000$ is a big deal in pakistan. People in tribal areas wont mind turning this into a side business, produce and sell.

MatrixVipin · 07-06-2009, 03:44 AM

Yes I saw this on news channel weeks back and that boy was not ashamed of what he was doing.
I said he will do it again when he gets out of custody.

cowboy · 07-06-2009, 08:34 AM

doesn't matter to him , he is going to die anyways

07-05-2009, 05:20 AM	#1 (permalink)
cowboy Status: Super Moderator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Vancouver, Can Age: 32 Posts: 4,850 Thanks: 21 Thanked 73 Times in 69 Posts	EXCLUSIVE: Taliban buying children for suicide bombers By Sara A. Carter (Contact) Pakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is buying children as young as 7 to serve as suicide bombers in the growing spate of attacks against Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. targets, U.S. Defense Department and Pakistani officials say. A Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said the going price for child bombers was $7,000 to $14,000 - huge sums in Pakistan, where per-capita income is about $2,600 a year. "[Mehsud] has turned suicide bombing into a production output, not unlike [the way] Toyota outputs cars," a U.S. Defense Department official told reporters recently. He spoke on the condition that he not be named because of ongoing intelligence efforts to catch Mehsud, a prime target for a U.S. and Pakistani anti-Taliban campaign. An apparent U.S. effort to kill Mehsud last week failed. On Sunday, the Pakistani government offered a reward of about $615,300 for information leading to the capture of Mehsud, dead or alive. The U.S. State Department has offered a bounty of $5 million for Mehsud, who is thought to be hiding in the tribal areas near the Afghan border. Suicide bombings have become frequent in Pakistan in the past year, including high-profile attacks on hotels frequented by Westerners, as well as on Pakistani police and military installations. There has also been a spate of such attacks directed at U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. The U.S. official said the price depends on how quickly the bomber is needed and how close the child is expected to get to the target. "[Mehsud] produces these suicide bombers, which are sold or bartered, which can be used by [Afghan Taliban leader Mullah] Omar's Taliban or ... other groups," the U.S. official said. In some cases, he said, the children are kidnapped and then sold to Mehsud. Using child suicide bombers "is the grim reality of the Taliban Frankenstein that now threatens to overwhelm the Pakistani state," said Bruce Riedel, a Brookings Institution scholar who chaired a review of Pakistan-Afghanistan strategy for President Obama. Efforts to reach a spokesman for Mehsud were not successful. ASSOCIATED PRESS 'GRIM REALITY': Suspected of being a would-be suicide bomber, Salman Khan, 14, was arrested last month in Pakistan. The use of children in war is not unusual in the region.

07-05-2009, 08:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
Invincible Status: Administrator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Pune, Incredible India Age: 25 Posts: 4,864 Thanks: 139 Thanked 41 Times in 37 Posts	Re: EXCLUSIVE: Taliban buying children for suicide bombers Yea 7000$ is a big deal in pakistan. People in tribal areas wont mind turning this into a side business, produce and sell.

07-06-2009, 03:44 AM	#3 (permalink)
MatrixVipin Status: Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Age: 27 Posts: 4,091 Thanks: 16 Thanked 14 Times in 14 Posts	Re: EXCLUSIVE: Taliban buying children for suicide bombers Yes I saw this on news channel weeks back and that boy was not ashamed of what he was doing. I said he will do it again when he gets out of custody. __________________ Do not lower your goals to the level of your abilities. Instead, raise your abilities to the height of your goals.

07-06-2009, 08:34 AM	#4 (permalink)
cowboy Status: Super Moderator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Vancouver, Can Age: 32 Posts: 4,850 Thanks: 21 Thanked 73 Times in 69 Posts	Re: EXCLUSIVE: Taliban buying children for suicide bombers doesn't matter to him , he is going to die anyways

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