# Attempts To Make a Six Year Old A Suicide Bomber?



## Bruce Monkhouse (25 Jun 2007)

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/2007/06/25/4289575-ap.html

Fair Dealings.....


Taliban put 6-year-old Afghan boy in suicide vest, sent him to attack Americans

By JASON STRAZIUSO
  
FORWARD OPERATING BASE THUNDER, Afghanistan (AP) - The story of a six-year-old Afghan boy who says he thwarted an effort by Taliban militants to trick him into being a suicide bomber provoked tears and anger at a meeting of tribal leaders. 
The account from Juma Gul, a dirt-caked child who collects scrap metal for money, left American soldiers dumbfounded that a youngster could be sent on such a mission. Afghan troops crowded around the boy to call him a hero. 

Though the Taliban dismissed the story as propaganda, at a time when U.S. and NATO forces are under increasing criticism over civilian casualties, both Afghan tribal elders and U.S. military officers said they were convinced by his dramatic account. 
Juma said that sometime last month Taliban fighters forced him to wear a vest they said would spray out flowers when he touched a button. He said they told him that when he saw American soldiers, "throw your body at them." 

The militants cornered Juma in a Taliban-controlled district in southern Afghanistan's Ghazni province. Their target was an impoverished youngster being raised by an older sister - but also one who proved too street-smart for their plan. 
"When they first put the vest on my body I didn't know what to think, but then I felt the bomb," Juma told The Associated Press as he ate lamb and rice after being introduced to the elders at this joint U.S.-Afghan base in Ghazni. "After I figured out it was a bomb, I went to the Afghan soldiers for help."  
   

While Juma's story could not be independently verified, local government leaders backed his account and the U.S. and NATO military missions said they believed his story. 
Abdul Rahim Deciwal, the chief administrator for Juma's village of Athul, brought the boy and an older brother, Dad Gul, to a weekend meeting between Afghan elders and U.S. army Col. Martin Schweitzer. 
Schweitzer called the Taliban's attempt "a cowardly act." 

As Deciwal told Juma's story, 20 Afghan elders repeatedly clicked their tongues in sadness and disapproval. When the boy and his brother were brought in, several of the turban-wearing men welled up, wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs. 
"If anybody has a heart, then how can you control yourself (before) these kids?" Deciwal said in broken English. 
Wallets quickly opened, and the boys were handed $60 in American and Afghan currency, a good chunk of money in a country where teachers and police earn $70 a month. 

Afghan officials described the boys as extremely poor, and Juma said he is being raised by his sister because his father works in a bakery in Pakistan and his mother lives and does domestic work in another village. 
"I think the boy is intelligent," Deciwal said. "When he comes from the enemy he found a checkpoint of the ANA (Afghan National Army), and he asked the ANA: 'Hey, can you help me? Somebody gave me this jacket and I don't know what's inside but maybe something bad."' 
Lt.-Col. George Graff, a father of five who attended the meeting, also teared up. 

"Relating to them as a father and trying to fathom somebody using one of my children for that kind of a purpose, jeez, it just tore me up," said Graff, a National Guard soldier from St. George, Utah. "The depths that these people will go to get what they want, which is power for themselves - it's just disgusting." 
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, denied the militant group uses child fighters, saying it has hundreds of adults ready for suicide missions. 

"We don't need to use a child," Ahmadi told the AP by satellite phone. "It's against Islamic law, it's against humanitarian law. This is just propaganda against the Taliban." 
However, a gory Taliban video that surfaced in April showed militants instructing a boy of about 12 as he beheaded an alleged traitor with a large knife. UN officials condemned the act as a war crime. 

Fidgety but smiling during all the attention, Juma told the AP that he had been scared when he was surrounded by Taliban fighters. He cupped his hands together to show the size of the bomb, then ran his hands along his waist to show where it was on his body. 
A fan of soccer, Juma said his favourite subject in school is Pashto, his native language, but he also showed off a little English, shyly counting "One, two, three ..." before breaking out in an oversize smile. 
Raised in a country where birthdays are not always carefully tracked, Juma said he is four. But he looks older and Afghan officials said he is about six. His brother appears to be a year or so older. 

Their village lies in Ghazni province's Andar district, a Taliban stronghold targeted this month in a joint Afghan-U.S. operation. The region remains dangerous and Afghan elders worry for Juma's safety. 
Maj. John Thomas, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said he was "a bit skeptical" about Juma's story at first, "but everything I've heard makes me more and more comfortable." 
Thomas said the case would force soldiers to think twice before assuming children are safe. 

"This is one incident. We hope it doesn't repeat itself. But it gives us reason to pause, to be extra careful," he said. "We want to publicize this as much as we can to the Afghan people so that they can protect their children from these killers." 
Col. Sayed Waqef Shah, a religious and cultural affairs officer for the Afghan army, wiped away tears after seeing Juma. "Whenever I see this kind of action from the Taliban, if I am able to arrest them, I'll kill them on the spot," he said. 

Haji Niaz Mohammad, one of the elders at the gathering, said he hoped "God makes the Afghan government strong" so it can defeat the Taliban. 
"They are the enemy of Muslims and the enemy of the children," he said, shaking his fists in anger. 


I wonder how this one plays out.......


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## Remius (25 Jun 2007)

Hmn.  This can mean many things if the accounts are true.  One they are getting desperate that they have to use innocent children to do their dirty work and two, they may be running out of willing suicide bombers.  Still disgusting, but is this a sign that the Taliban might be on the ropes?


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## Munxcub (25 Jun 2007)

Or it could simply mean that the adult bombers can't get close enough to soldiers to be effective?


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## 1feral1 (25 Jun 2007)

if my memory serves me correctly..... before I left Baghdad, somehow familes were convinced to become (perhaps unknowingly aside from the head of the household) used in SVBIEDs. Killed were two kids, a woman and a man as they passed through a check point. I can't rremember how many New iraqi Army were vapourised.

trust no one!

A sad state of affairs.

Glad its not on our shores (yet)

Wes


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## midget-boyd91 (25 Jun 2007)

> We don't need to use a child," Ahmadi told the AP by satellite phone. "It's against Islamic law, it's against humanitarian law.



Since when have the radicalists been twarted from carrying out an attack because it was 'against humanitarian law?'
This has not stopped them from doing such things as holding entire families hostage inside as human shields, and that is clearly against any and all humanitarian, religious, and moral laws. But who am I kidding--these people having morals, what are the odds of that?


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## Mike Baker (25 Jun 2007)

+1 Boyd, this is sick. This is the dirtiest tactic I have ever seen.


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## 1feral1 (25 Jun 2007)

Mike Baker said:
			
		

> +1 Boyd, this is sick. This is the dirtiest tactic I have ever seen.



Sick to us, yes, but to them its just routine, adn another ruse to get at us. 

Cheers,

Wes


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## Mike Baker (25 Jun 2007)

Wesley  Down Under said:
			
		

> Sick to us, yes, but to them its just routine, adn another ruse to get at us.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Wes


You know Wes, I never thought of it that way. Thanks for the cultural eye opener.


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## Pikache (25 Jun 2007)

If this news is true, it needs to spread to every man and village in Afghanistan ASAP.


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## The Bread Guy (25 Jun 2007)

A bit more along the same theme.....

Taliban using illegal, immoral methods to fight
ISAF Release # 2007-459, 22 Jun 07
Article link

KHOWST, Afghanistan (June 22) – Taliban extremists have been desecrating cemeteries and burial sites, using children as bombers, and violating Islamic tradition, according to ISAF officials here.

“They placed explosives on a 6-year-old boy and told him to walk up to the Afghan Police or Army and push the button,” said Capt. Michael P. Cormier, company commander.  “Fortunately, the boy did not understand and asked patrolling officers why he had this vest on.

“This type of action is not tolerated by any culture or any people,” said Maj. Donald A. Korpi, ISAF’s Regional Command-East spokesman.  It was the people in the area who first reported these activities to the Afghan security forces in the Andar district, he said.

Afghan National Army and ISAF troops supporting Operation Maiwand reported i*ncreased improvised-explosive device attacks and finding weapon caches near grave sites recently*, Korpi said.

*“We have received reports that Taliban are watching convoys and security forces from cemeteries and exploding the device as the soldiers or police vehicles pass,” Korpi said.  The Taliban dig up graves and wait for passing soldiers, he added.  When the soldiers clear the area after the explosion, the Taliban extremists re-bury the body.*

Another ISAF official noted the Taliban are doing activities they forbid. 

“We have seen the Taliban in recent weeks *shave their beards and even wear women’s clothing in an attempt to avoid detection by security forces*,” Cormier said. 

Recent attacks by the Taliban show their desperation, according to Cormier. 

 “In another incident *they placed explosives in a Sunni mosque used by local workers and contractors*,” Cormier said.


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## 1feral1 (25 Jun 2007)

HighlandFusilier said:
			
		

> If this news is true, it needs to spread to every man and village in Afghanistan ASAP.



In our culture, yes, but over there, no one really seems to care or GAF. Although I was not in AFG, I was in Iraq and the Iraqi insurgents have the same mentality. As for the locals, I had never heard one objection. It may be viewed as a sad event, but its just 'business' to them and unfortunate. Tommorrow there will be another Suicide 'assisted detonation' via vest or SVIED, perhaps a younger woman this time, which is now growing in popularity with the baddies!

I can not say one good thing about the locals, the culture, or the counrty for that matter, with the exception I am happy to be gone from there, and we got out of there unharmed, and have been allowed to get on with our lives.

I believe the bad guys know how sickening we view such sadistic behaviour in the west, and therefore they'll use this more against us for shock value and to keep us wondering. I would NOT sacrifice my life for one of theirs, even a chld. Call me cold if you want, but I call it staying alive. The sad truth. We always avoided their kids, it saved us, and possibly them too. Hearts and minds won, yes some, but never the Enemy's, and he will decieve and use anyone to win, regardless of age. Remember that if you're going over. Keep your lollies for you own kids.

Lets just say I am happy to be back in civilisation, and I being honest I am over them using kids as such, I can't stop it, nor can we as a whole, and they won't stop either. Its just the reality and harshness of the situation over there. A 1000 yrs from now it will still be a barbaric corrupt lawless tribal society, influenced by who knows what. Somethings will never change, again better on their shores than our own.


Wes


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## Benny (26 Jun 2007)

I've been told of a similar unwitting kid being used in a suicide attack (murder attack?). 6yo is really pushing it. What next, and abandoned orphan baby in a basket IED? The taliban are absolute scum, to state the obvious.


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## CdnArtyWife (26 Jun 2007)

Benny said:
			
		

> I've been told of a similar unwitting kid being used in a suicide attack (murder attack?). 6yo is really pushing it. What next, and abandoned orphan baby in a basket IED? The taliban are absolute scum, to state the obvious.



Sssshhhhh, stop giving them ideas! Though, its not like they haven't likely thought of that already.

It is dispicable...especially to me, the mother of a 5.5 year old, who watches the news (his choice, he puts CTVNewsnet on everymorning before I get up) and asks me why the "bad guys' team blows up the people that Daddy's team is trying to help." So I know what mindset that age group has. They understand what is going on around them far more than most people give them credit for. Cudos to the little guy that went to the ANA. He's a little mini-Hero if you ask me.


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## Trooper Hale (26 Jun 2007)

They're the scum of the Earth. It really makes you wonder how we can win against people who dont even give a passing thought for the lives of children if it means that can blow up some infidels. Absolute scum. They deserve what ever the 5.56 and 25mm give them, and hopefully thats a big hole.


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## 1feral1 (26 Jun 2007)

Hale said:
			
		

> They deserve what ever the 5.56 and 25mm give them, and hopefully thats a big hole.




True, but one dies, and 10,000 put their hands up to volunteer, plenty more true believers waiting for the 40 virgin thing, ha!

Cheers, and loo forward to seeing you at the Reg't.

Wes


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## Benny (26 Jun 2007)

They get 40 of them? Allah's Jihad Heaven must be getting pretty crowded by now.


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## Bigmac (26 Jun 2007)

It always sickens me when I see stories of children being exploited and used as weapons of war. It is not uncommon to use children as soldiers in many current concficts around the world. The fact that the Taliban have chosen to take up this tactic shows how desperate they are. Once this story spreads among the village elders the Taliban will have no safe place to hide. 

      The difficult part now will be to detain captured Taliban combatants before the villagers and ANA get them. Aww who am I kidding, it's open season on Taliban and there is no limit! :threat:


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## Red 6 (27 Jun 2007)

Taliban recruiting Afghan children for suicide bombings

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=46952

By Monte Morin, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, June 27, 2007

GHAZNI, Afghanistan — The boy looked to be no more than 6 years old, a U.S. officer said.

As the tiny Afghan wandered onto the district governor’s compound, he grew more scared and confused. He’d been given special instructions on what to do once he arrived, but now he couldn’t remember a thing.

The boy walked up to a guard and explained his problem.

“I forgot what to do,” the boy said.

Puzzled, the guard asked the child what on earth he was talking about.

The boy lifted his shirt and revealed a packed explosives belt.

“I forgot what I was supposed to do with this,” the boy said.

As U.S. and NATO forces struggle to stamp out a rekindled Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan’s southern and eastern provinces, officers and cultural advisers say enemy fighters are upping the ante by employing children and teens in a wave of deadly suicide bombings.

By targeting children in impoverished villages, Taliban fighters and their cohorts have used promises of jobs, money, education and simply food to lure young boys to neighboring Pakistan for indoctrination and training as insurgent suicide bombers, the U.S. military said.

While training camps in the ungoverned border regions of Pakistan have long served as the breeding ground for midlevel Taliban fighters, the use of young Afghan villagers as suicide bombers is a recent chilling development, authorities say.

In some instances — such as the failed attempt two months ago to use a boy in a suicide attack on a district governor’s compound in Ghazni province — insurgents simply befriend a susceptible boy and pressure him to conduct the attack.

In the Ghazni episode, the boy bomber was fatherless and his mother was unable to support his family, according to U.S. officials who said they were briefed on the incident by Afghan government and security officials.

“That’s how horrible these guys are,” said Capt. Matt Hagerman, a spokesman for the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, who described the Ghazni incident after being briefed about it. “They took a six-year-old and put a suicide belt on him. I mean, how low can you get?”

In a country plagued by grinding poverty, money is as much a Taliban weapon as are anti-tank mines, Kalashnikov rifles and intimidation campaigns.

In a series of interviews conducted by U.S. cultural advisers, villagers in the troubled Andar district of Ghazni province have said that Taliban fighters are targeting children between the ages of 8 and 12 and luring them to madrassas, or fundamentalist Islamic religious schools, in Pakistan.

“Once they get to Pakistan they’re brainwashed into becoming suicide bombers,” a U.S. intelligence officer said.

In small villages in the Andar district, a village the size of 300 people can lose between 5 and 10 young boys a year, according to officers in Task Force Fury.

While adult Afghans are more likely to see through the Taliban’s religious and ideological appeals, children are much more easily influenced and fooled, commanders say.

“These kids don’t have any concept of death; they don’t understand what they’re being asked to do,” said Capt. Aaron White, comander of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.


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