Officials: Taliban used child to carry out Afghan suicide attack

[News_Editor]

Officials: Taliban used child to carry out Afghan suicide attack

2012-03-28 20:49:38 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- A suicide bombing which injured five people in southern Afghanistan earlier this week was carried out by a child, the Australian Department of Defense said on Wednesday. The Taliban previously claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack took place in the Chora District of Uruzgan province at around 2 p.m. local time on Monday as coalition service members were returning to a nearby patrol base following a Shura (consultation) with local community leaders. The suicide bombing wounded an Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) civilian, three coalition soldiers and an Afghan child.

Lieutenant General Ash Power, Chief of Joint Operations of the Australian Army, said the suicide bomber is believed to have been a child. "The deliberate use of children as suicide attackers in Afghanistan contravenes every law and has been universally condemned by ISAF, the Afghan Government, the United Nations and independent human rights groups yet the Taliban continue to act with little regard to rights of children and civilians," he said.

It was not immediately clear how old the child suicide bomber was, but the attack comes after the recent detention of two would-be child suicide attackers in the Mirabad district of Helmand province. "Our focus is on ensuring the children of Afghanistan have a future - the Taliban is intent on taking that future from them through these callous acts," Power said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi previously claimed responsibility and said the attack was carried out by a resident identified as Abdur Rafi', although he did not indicate it was a child who had carried out the bombing. "The attack took place when dozens of ISAF troops had gathered around their tanks after having lunch in the house of a local puppet official near the district center when a martyrdom-seeking Mujahid (Muslim fighter) of Islamic Emirate (Taliban) detonated his explosives vest in their midst," he said on Monday.

The Taliban spokesman said Monday's attack was carried out to avenge the acts by U.S. soldier Robert Bales, who allegedly went on a shooting spree in Kandahar province earlier this month, killing seventeen civilians as they slept in their homes. Several others were injured in the attack, which the Taliban condemned as an 'act of genocide.'

"Local Mujahideen (Taliban) leaders say that this operation was carried out to avenge the 17 martyrs of Zangawat (Kandahar) who were brutally shot and then some burnt by the cowardly American terrorists in a night-time massacre a few days ago," the Taliban spokesman said on Monday.

The Taliban have been accused of using child suicide bombers in the past, although the militant group has repeatedly denied that they use or target children as part of their attacks. However, children often fall victims in attacks carried out by the Taliban, and would-be child suicide bombers have repeatedly been detained.

In late July 2011, an 8-year-old Afghan boy was seriously injured when he was told by a suspected Taliban insurgent to step on an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Zhari District of Kandahar province. The boy was forced to have an amputation of the right leg below the knee and suffered a femur fracture.

The incident came just days after suspected members of the Taliban kidnapped an 8-year-old boy in the Greshk district of Helmand province. He was later hanged after his father, a local police commander, did not surrender as the Taliban had demanded.

And in May 2011, 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.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-03-28

[Ulysses G.]

"Lieutenant General Ash Power, Chief of Joint Operations of the Australian Army, said the suicide bomber is believed to have been a child. "The deliberate use of children as suicide attackers in Afghanistan contravenes every law and has been universally condemned by ISAF, the Afghan Government, the United Nations and independent human rights groups yet the Taliban continue to act with little regard to rights of children and civilians," he said".

This is pretty typical behavior for Islamic terrorists - not a big surprise.

[Colin Yai]

"Lieutenant General Ash Power, Chief of Joint Operations of the Australian Army, said the suicide bomber is believed to have been a child. "The deliberate use of children as suicide attackers in Afghanistan contravenes every law and has been universally condemned by ISAF, the Afghan Government, the United Nations and independent human rights groups yet the Taliban continue to act with little regard to rights of children and civilians," he said".

This is pretty typical behavior for Islamic terrorists - not a big surprise.

Of Course I stand corrected but I seem to remember reading an article which said that The Taliban has been buying kids from Pakistan for ages and then "groom them" to become suicide bombers. Edited March 28, 2012 by Colin Yai

[lovetotravel]

"Lieutenant General Ash Power, Chief of Joint Operations of the Australian Army, said the suicide bomber is believed to have been a child. "The deliberate use of children as suicide attackers in Afghanistan contravenes every law and has been universally condemned by ISAF, the Afghan Government, the United Nations and independent human rights groups yet the Taliban continue to act with little regard to rights of children and civilians," he said".

This is pretty typical behavior for Islamic terrorists - not a big surprise.

Of Course I stand corrected but I seem to remember reading an article which said that The Taliban has been buying kids from Pakistan for ages and then "groom them" to become suicide bombers.

BBC had a special a year ago or so about this. The Taliban would even kidnap children, brainwash them, and use them as suicide bombers. They got one as the vest didn't go off and they reunited him with his family. It was amazing his view on the world. They really teach some bad stuff to kids.

[Colin Yai]

"Lieutenant General Ash Power, Chief of Joint Operations of the Australian Army, said the suicide bomber is believed to have been a child. "The deliberate use of children as suicide attackers in Afghanistan contravenes every law and has been universally condemned by ISAF, the Afghan Government, the United Nations and independent human rights groups yet the Taliban continue to act with little regard to rights of children and civilians," he said".

This is pretty typical behavior for Islamic terrorists - not a big surprise.

Of Course I stand corrected but I seem to remember reading an article which said that The Taliban has been buying kids from Pakistan for ages and then "groom them" to become suicide bombers.

BBC had a special a year ago or so about this. The Taliban would even kidnap children, brainwash them, and use them as suicide bombers. They got one as the vest didn't go off and they reunited him with his family. It was amazing his view on the world. They really teach some bad stuff to kids.

And yet there are people on this forum who by definition must approve of it cos when "normal" people write against this Religous abomination to mankind , such as using young kids as Suicide bombers depicted in the OP ,we are branded as Muslim haters , maybe they are Muslim lovers who knows!

[Ulysses G.]

There is nothing wrong with moderate Muslims who speak out against the hateful nuts who use these kind of deplorable tactics.

[BookMan]

There is nothing wrong with moderate Muslims who speak out against the hateful nuts who use these kind of deplorable tactics.

Indeed. There are big differences between most Muslim people and Islamic fanatics.

It isn't the religion of Islam that is the trouble, it is the warped interpretations of fanatics. This applies to all religions.

The use of children is no surprise. Young minds can be more readily brainwashed and controlled. Look at the use of child soldiers in Africa

[Colin Yai]

There is nothing wrong with moderate Muslims who speak out against the hateful nuts who use these kind of deplorable tactics.

Indeed. There are big differences between most Muslim people and Islamic fanatics.

It isn't the religion of Islam that is the trouble, it is the warped interpretations of fanatics. This applies to all religions.

The use of children is no surprise. Young minds can be more readily brainwashed and controlled. Look at the use of child soldiers in Africa

Yeah but the difference is many of the Child soldiers in Africa live to tell the tale!! in fact a former Child soldier took up Boxing and became light Middleweight Champion of the world!!. Edited March 29, 2012 by Colin Yai

[Colin Yai]

There is nothing wrong with moderate Muslims who speak out against the hateful nuts who use these kind of deplorable tactics.

Nothing wrong at all UG ,but I wonder how long a "moderate" Pakistani Muslim would live (before they tore him limb from limb) if he stood on a soapbox(Ala Hyde park corner) before a crowd of Thousands in Down town Karachi and denounced Islamic extremism and ALL its manifestations ??? Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was a moderate Muslim ,and look what happened to him!!. Edited March 29, 2012 by Colin Yai

[oldsailor35]

And the US govt., and President Kharzi have openly stated that they are having talks with the Taliban........................I think its time to leave.

[Colin Yai]

And the US govt., and President Kharzi have openly stated that they are having talks with the Taliban........................I think its time to leave.

I think is was Churchill who said "jaw jaw is better than war war"!!

[folium]

There is nothing wrong with moderate Muslims who speak out against the hateful nuts who use these kind of deplorable tactics.

Indeed. There are big differences between most Muslim people and Islamic fanatics.

It isn't the religion of Islam that is the trouble, it is the warped interpretations of fanatics. This applies to all religions.

The use of children is no surprise. Young minds can be more readily brainwashed and controlled. Look at the use of child soldiers in Africa

Yeah but the difference is many of the Child soldiers in Africa live to tell the tale!! in fact a former Child soldier took up Boxing and became light Middleweight Champion of the world!!.

Well that's wonderful then, child soldiers all live happily ever afterwards....

The use by the Taliban of children as suicide bombers is utterly depraved though luckily a fairly rare event, but obviously one that catches media interest when it does occur. It is also just another sick twist in the long history of children misemployed as soldiers (see below):

http://en.wikipedia....use_of_children

Child suicide bombers fits in with the total concept of asymmetric warfare and making one's opponents wary of/scared of every member of society to the degree that an overreaction occurs, innocent children get killed and fantastic headlines are written for the terrorists.

The LTTE (Tamil Tigers) of Sri Lanka invented not only the suicide bomb vest but also were early pioneers of child suicide bombers, a concept then taken up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and now in Afghanistan.

Tragically the abuse of children as soldiers has a long history and is still found widely today (see report below):

http://www.childsold...obalreport.org/

Even in Thailand the Chor Ror Bor village patrol groups in the Southern Provinces regularly use under 18 year olds (the technical definition of a child soldier).

http://www.child-sol...d.March2011.pdf

No child should ever be involved in armed conflict and their use causes life long issues and severe psychological problems. The Khmer Rouge were particularly keen on using easy to idoctrinate child soldiers to torture and murder civilians as part of their warped recreation of Kampuchea. Sierra Leone also saw widespread use of children during its brutal civil war and Kony's LRA has been the subject of Facebook frenzy in the last few weeks drawing new attention to this tragic issue.

Edited March 29, 2012 by folium

[Colin Yai]

There is nothing wrong with moderate Muslims who speak out against the hateful nuts who use these kind of deplorable tactics.

Indeed. There are big differences between most Muslim people and Islamic fanatics.

It isn't the religion of Islam that is the trouble, it is the warped interpretations of fanatics. This applies to all religions.

The use of children is no surprise. Young minds can be more readily brainwashed and controlled. Look at the use of child soldiers in Africa

Yeah but the difference is many of the Child soldiers in Africa live to tell the tale!! in fact a former Child soldier took up Boxing and became light Middleweight Champion of the world!!.

Well that's wonderful then, child soldiers all live happily ever afterwards....

The use by the Taliban of children as suicide bombers is utterly depraved though luckily a fairly rare event, but obviously one that catches media interest when it does occur. It is also just another sick twist in the long history of children misemployed as soldiers (see below):

http://en.wikipedia....use_of_children

Child suicide bombers fits in with the total concept of asymmetric warfare and making one's opponents wary of/scared of every member of society to the degree that an overreaction occurs, innocent children get killed and fantastic headlines are written for the terrorists.

The LTTE (Tamil Tigers) of Sri Lanka invented not only the suicide bomb vest but also were early pioneers of child suicide bombers, a concept then taken up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and now in Afghanistan.

Tragically the abuse of children as soldiers has a long history and is still found widely today (see report below):

http://www.childsold...obalreport.org/

Even in Thailand the Chor Ror Bor village patrol groups in the Southern Provinces regularly use under 18 year olds (the technical definition of a child soldier).

http://www.child-sol...d.March2011.pdf

No child should ever be involved in armed conflict and their use causes life long issues and severe psychological problems. The Khmer Rouge were particularly keen on using easy to idoctrinate child soldiers to torture and murder civilians as part of their warped recreation of Kampuchea. Sierra Leone also saw widespread use of children during its brutal civil war and Kony's LRA has been the subject of Facebook frenzy in the last few weeks drawing new attention to this tragic issue.

You have a Rare talent for twisting the truth , there is one hell of a difference in between ALL and MANY with regards to Boy Soldiers which is what I Plainly wrote , so could you with respect please quote me correctly ,instead of going on some fantasy ego trip, With Suicide bombers there is a 100% death rate , with the Boy soldiers this was plainly not the case!!!. Edited March 29, 2012 by Colin Yai

[Pakboong]

"Lieutenant General Ash Power, Chief of Joint Operations of the Australian Army, said the suicide bomber is believed to have been a child. "The deliberate use of children as suicide attackers in Afghanistan contravenes every law and has been universally condemned by ISAF, the Afghan Government, the United Nations and independent human rights groups yet the Taliban continue to act with little regard to rights of children and civilians," he said".

This is pretty typical behavior for Islamic terrorists - not a big surprise.

Of Course I stand corrected but I seem to remember reading an article which said that The Taliban has been buying kids from Pakistan for ages and then "groom them" to become suicide bombers.

BBC had a special a year ago or so about this. The Taliban would even kidnap children, brainwash them, and use them as suicide bombers. They got one as the vest didn't go off and they reunited him with his family. It was amazing his view on the world. They really teach some bad stuff to kids.

And yet there are people on this forum who by definition must approve of it cos when "normal" people write against this Religous abomination to mankind , such as using young kids as Suicide bombers depicted in the OP ,we are branded as Muslim haters , maybe they are Muslim lovers who knows!

Colin, are you suggesting that you are one of the "Normal People"? We Usual Suspects concede that water is in fact wet.

[Colin Yai]

Yeah Pakboong maybe the term was a bit misplaced, how does "living in the real world" sound

[Scott]

Off-topic, argumentative posts deleted.

[geriatrickid]

Colin, are you suggesting that you are one of the "Normal People"? We Usual Suspects concede that water is in fact wet.

And the usual suspects are drowning in the sewage water. Indefensible to have these occurrences and not one "usual supsect" has a comment? I am not surprised.

[Ulysses G.]

Using children as suicide bombers is inexcusable, no matter how many other hateful savages have done it.

Edited March 29, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[Scott]

This will be the last reminder before suspensions are issued.

Stay on the topic of the OP. Personal comments toward other posters can stop. Especially the inflammatory, nasty and irrelevant ones.

[Colin Yai]

Using children as suicide bombers is inexcusable, no matter how many other hateful savages have done it.

Of Course UG nothing and I do mean NOTHING excuses the Taliban or for that Matter any other regime from using kids or women non combatants as Suicide Bombers ,but what we are talking about is happening right now at this moment in time, maybe that is the stark difference to what has happened in the past ,Suicide means just what it imply's, certain death ,which certainly was not the case with other suggestions of Children being exploited which was put forward.

[JUDAS]

Using children as suicide bombers is inexcusable, no matter how many other hateful savages have done it.

Of Course UG nothing and I do mean NOTHING excuses the Taliban or for that Matter any other regime from using kids or women non combatants as Suicide Bombers ,but what we are talking about is happening right now at this moment in time, maybe that is the stark difference to what has happened in the past ,Suicide means just what it imply's, certain death ,which certainly was not the case with other suggestions of Children being exploited which was put forward.

Whilst I find myself in total agreement with these comments I also realize that all we can realistically do is be vocal. We, the western powers, can never defeat an enemy such as the taliban. What we should be doing is securing our own borders and conducting surgical strikes, the likes of which eliminated Osama, against targets which pose a clear threat to country/people.