Afghan police arrest 10-year-old would-be suicide bomber

Afghan police arrest 10-year-old would-be suicide bomber

2011-08-21 14:53:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

KANDAHAR (BNO NEWS) -- Police in southern Afghanistan have arrested a 10-year-old Pakistani boy who had been instructed to carry out a suicide bombing, the government said on Sunday.

Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the child was arrested on Friday in the PD 10 area of Kandahar City in Kandahar province before he reached his intended target. He did not say where the boy, who was identified as Abdul Samad, had been instructed to blow himself up.

Samad was kidnapped in May by militants in Quetta, the largest city and the provincial capital of Balochistan Province in Pakistan. "He was taken to one of the terrorist education centers across the border and prepared for a suicide bombing," Sediqqi said.

In a statement, the ministry condemned the attempted bombing. "[The] Ministry of Interior Affairs strongly condemns this unforgivable, shameful, un-Islamic and inhumane act of the enemies of peace and stability for using the innocent children, Afghan and Islamic culture for suicide bombings," the statement said.

A spokesperson for the Kandahar provincial government's Media and Information Center also condemned the attempted attack. "Insurgents are encouraging little boys to carry out suicide attacks and this is an illegal effort and against the Islam as well," the spokesperson said.

It was not immediately known which insurgent group had instructed the boy to carry out the attack. On May 1, four civilians were killed and 12 others were injured when a 12-year-old suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded market in eastern Afghanistan.

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