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| Pakistani Taliban’s indoctrinated child bombers | |||
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Most children used by Taliban as suicide bombers are from poor families who are indoctrinated through religious schools.
Last Modified: 17 Oct 2012 08:31
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“Once in the hands of the Pakistani Taliban, brainwashing of the sheltered, naive and suggestible young people for the organisation’s military goals proceeds,” says author [EPA]
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| “While adult suicide bombers may experience some ‘existential grappling,’ young children are unable to process the meaning of ending one’s life, especially if rewards are promised in the afterlife.” (Indoctrinating Children: The Making of Pakistan’s Suicide Bombers)In the late afternoon of April 3, 2011, in the Pakistani city of Dera Ghazi Khan, an annual Sufi Muslim religious festival at the shrine of the 13th century saint Ahmed Sultan was hit by twin suicide bomb attacks which killed over 50 people and left more than 120 wounded.
As an eyewitness described the immediate aftermath of the bombings, “people started running outside the shrine. Women and children were crying and screaming. It was like hell”. The bombers had struck a few minutes apart, instantly turning the atmosphere of festivity and prayer into a scene of carnage and horror. As crowds of worshippers fled in terror, an elderly woman ran into a young boy out of whose hands dropped a grenade. His name was Umar Fidai, a 15-year-old, and he was the third intended suicide bomber that day. Umar’s explosive vest had failed to detonate and as his handlers had instructed, he was attempting to kill himself and as many others as possible with the grenade they had provided him as a backup. In his own words in an interview later given to the Pakistani media, “There were three policemen standing close by, and I thought if I killed them too, I would still make it to heaven… At the time I detonated myself, thoughts of my family were not in my mind, I was only thinking about what the Taliban had told me.” Umar was shot and wounded by police and failed in his mission, but he is only one of the hundreds of other children it is believed that the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) have brainwashed and utilised as suicide bombers in their ongoing war with the state. Brainwashing of young people Most are impressionable children from poor families who are indoctrinated through networks of religious schools which provide the only hope of advancement in isolated regions poorly served by the Pakistani government; although many are also procured through outright kidnapping and coercion by armed gangs.
Once in the hands of the TTP, the brainwashing of these sheltered, naive and suggestible young people for the organisation’s military goals proceeds. In Umar’s words, “I thought that there would be a little bit of pain, but then I would be in heaven.” A significant majority of suicide bombers in Pakistan are believed to be between the ages of 12 and 18, with some studies putting the number near 90 per cent. Pakistani Taliban commander Qari Hussain has boasted that his organisation recruits children as young as five years old for suicide attacks, saying that “Children are tools to achieve God’s will, whatever comes your way you sacrifice it”. There are estimated to be roughly 2,000 madrassas in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, a small yet significant percentage of which are believed to be involved in the brainwashing and indoctrination of young boys into militancy. Students in these schools receive free board and education; something which on its face appears to be a remarkable opportunity for poor and isolated children whose parents cannot afford to send them to good schools, but which ultimately comes at a terrible price to both them and Pakistani society. In one high-profile incident in early 2012, a convoy of cars carrying children, some as young as six, was intercepted while it was en route to religious schools where the children were allegedly to be trained as suicide bombers – the rationale for their utilisation being that they were “gullible” as well as less likely to be physically searched by police at checkpoints. In a recent study by Hussain Nadim for the Islamabad-based National University of Science and Technology, several interviews were conducted with rescued child suicide bombers whom he described as being “not particularly religious, nor motivated by supposedly Islamic ideas, and had no substantial animosity toward the United States or the Pakistan Army – they knew very little about the world outside their small tribe… The lack of access to TV, Internet, and formal education meant they were almost completely oblivious to such massive events as 9/11, and as such they were unaware of where and what exactly the United States was.” In this context, such isolated and impressionable young people were highly susceptible to intensive brainwashing by Taliban militants who would make young recruits spend weeks watching videos of atrocities and of foreign troops raping women and girls – a fate which they said would await their own female relatives if they did not carry out suicide operations against Western and Pakistani government targets on behalf of the TTP. ‘Fear of losing mothers and sisters’ Furthermore, Nadim’s study concluded that most residents of the tribal areas where the Pakistani Taliban operate have little understanding or knowledge of the “War on Terror” being fought in their region, and are themselves allies of neither the Taliban, the West, nor of the Pakistani government.
Those young people who have agreed to take part in suicide bombings have in many cases done so particularly “out of fear of losing mothers and sisters”; a fear impressed upon them by their militant handlers’ extensive psychological manipulation. Unbeknownst to them when they enrolled their children in what were ostensibly religious schools, parents are denied access to their children once in the hands of the Taliban – a separation which is coercively enforced when parents realise that their young sons are being indoctrinated by their religious teachers in preparation for militant operations. One parent of a child described how he repeatedly pleaded with the Taliban to return his child but was denied. “We were threatened and told that the kids are working for a noble cause.” Cut off from parental contact, young, isolated children are easily susceptible to the influences of surrogate authority figures such as religious clerics in their madrassas. Many are told that they are acting in the name of Islam and will receive the reward of heaven if they successfully carry out their missions. Studies of those rescued have also shown that most suffer from “[physical] injuries, nightmares and trauma”. Indicative of the expendability and cynicism with which they are exploited by militant organisations, child suicide bombers are often sold to other groups and individuals wishing to carry out attacks for prices starting at US$7,000; a grotesque financial utilisation of manipulated children by armed gangs. In the words of Lahore-based researcher and psychologist Anees Khan, “These young boys are as much the victims of terrorism as those they kill. They are victims of the most brutal exploitation.” For Umar Fidai, despite losing his arm and suffering extensive burns to his body, he is glad that he survived and did not successfully carry out his bombing mission. After it was explained to him the true nature of the acts he was carrying out and the mainstream Islamic perspective which stands unequivocally against both suicide and the murder of innocent civilians, he would say from his hospital bed to a Pakistani reporter: “I am so grateful, because at least I have been saved from going to hell. I am in a lot of pain, but I know there are many people in hospital even more severely injured than me and I am so sorry for what I did… I now realise suicide bombing is un-Islamic… I hope people will forgive me.” Murtaza Hussain is a Toronto-based writer and analyst focused on issues related to Middle Eastern politics. Follow him on Twitter: @MazMHussain |
Posted by admin in "Jihadi" Outfits of Terrorism, Peshawar Massacre, TERRORIST GROUPS IN PAKISTAN, TERRORIST TALIBAN on January 2nd, 2015
The horrific incident at the Peshawar school jolted the nation and the civilian and military leadership came together to reclaim its neglected priorities. We were assured that now there is a broad consensus among political parties, and between them and the military, to combat terrorism. Hopefully, the concept of consensus as envisaged by the civilian leadership does not remain confined merely to reacting to the army’s demands, but to take initiatives and demonstrate the ability that it is a part of the transformation process. So far, the army has taken most of the major decisions. Lately, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is trying to seize the initiative and the broad-based action plan to fight terrorism covering both the ideological and the security aspects is a manifestation of the government’s commitment. Of course, people will be closely watching the plan’s implementation because our history is full of grandiose plans that were seldom executed or at best partially implemented.
The greatest challenge today is of transforming mindsets. In this, the role of clerics, madrassas, media, political parties and the mainstream education system is critical. How is the government going to deal with those madrassas that are known for spreading hatred and resist any scrutiny? Research institutes dealing with madrassas have assessed that about 10 per cent fall in this category, which is a substantial figure close to about 30,000. These are operating as autonomous units and are like sanctuaries that have remained outside the ambit of law. The prime minister’s action plan is emphatic that these madrassas will be reformed. In the enforcement of its writ, the government’s resolve will be measured. In addition to reforming madrassas, the government should open additional schools on a countrywide basis and make them attractive enough for parents to prefer to send their children to them. After all, what does the future hold for those students who continue to be subjected to rote learning and are deprived of modern education except to be exploited by the jihadi market? How can they contribute to society when their education fails to relate to the demands of the employment market, where physical and social sciences are key subjects and form the foundation of a progressive nation? With such acute limitations, they will continue to be exploited by unscrupulous forces as is happening now. We find that the very forces that are attacking the Pakistani state are those elements that were once nurtured by the state. Similarly, the religio-political parties that are supportive of radical madrassas may find that their students turn against them for being not sufficiently jihadist in the years to come. Moreover, if madrassa managements have nothing to hide, then why are they avoiding government oversight? The reality is that some of these seminaries have become dens of militants in urban centres.
The decision to establish military courts to handle cases pertaining to terrorism and lifting the moratorium on the death penalty has invoked criticism both inside and outside the country. The government’s position is that extraordinary conditions demand special measures. There is no doubt that these are unusual times and the civilian courts have miserably failed to provide justice for reasons well known — the state unable to provide protection to judges, witnesses and prosecution lawyers. As a result, the entire judicial machinery, fearing for its life, has been practically paralysed while many acquitted terrorists are roaming around freely, committing multiple murders of innocent citizens. And those who are awaiting trial are languishing in jails for years. The army is justifiably very disturbed and insists on setting up military courts for expediting cases. But there is a flip side to this proposal that cannot be overlooked. The civilian leadership, by its inadequate response to terrorism and other related matters, is gradually yielding space to the military that already heavily dominates the political and security landscape. Civilian leadership has to rise to the national challenge if the current ‘consensus’ has any substance. If consensus translates into handing over most major responsibilities of law and order, dealing with terrorist cases, taking decisions on strategic matters to the army, then it should be noted that such a state of affairs will have its own dynamics — militarisation, further weakening of state institutions and a playback of our history. In this cycle, democracy would be the first casualty and militant and radical forces the likely beneficiaries.
The prime minister’s current resolve is encouraging. History will, however, judge him and the provincial chief ministers on how they contribute towards strengthening civilian institutions, developing a national policy, improving governance, and above all, tackling terrorism. The leadership and courage that has been demonstrated by General Raheel Sharif has been inspiring. But it would be a folly to overload the armed forces with tasks that plainly fall in the domain of civilians, whether these pertain to the development of areas cleared by the army in Fata, resettling of internally displaced persons and dealing with the appalling law and order situation of Karachi and other major urban centres. It is through bank robberies and hostage-taking that criminal activity and terrorism feed each other.
A significant improvement in relations with Afghanistan has also been steered by the army leadership. The major military operation in North Waziristan and a paradigm shift in our policy of denying space to the Taliban, the Haqqani network and Hafiz Gul Bhadur have helped in improving relations with Afghanistan and the US. Recent plans for coordinated operations with the Afghan military to clear sanctuaries on both sides of the border, if conducted without any past prejudices coming in the way, should put pressure on the TTP and Afghan militants.
If we would also abandon support to the Jamaatud Dawa and focus on dealing with Kashmir and other issues with India politically, we will unlock tremendous potential and resources in fighting terrorism and militancy. It would be unwise to allow radical and extremist elements to flourish to keep the Kashmir cause alive. This strategy has not worked in the past and will not be beneficial in the future. We need to revisit our major policies to be at peace with ourselves and with the world.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2014.
Posted by admin in Peshawar Massacre, TERRORIST GROUPS IN PAKISTAN, TERRORIST TALIBAN, THE BRUTALISED INDIAN MUSLIMS on December 21st, 2014
Posted by admin in DEFENCE OF PAKISTAN, INDIA SPONSORED TERRORISM IN KARACHI, INDIA STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM IN PAKISTAN, INDIA TRAINED SUICIDE BOMBERS FROM AFGHANISTAN, India Training Suicide Bombers in FATA, INDIA'S ANTI-PAKISTAN TOXIC PROPAGANDA, Peshawar Massacre, TALIBAN-INDIA COOPERATION IN TERRORISM, TARGET PAKISTAN:4TH GENERATION WARFARE, TERRORISM IN KARACHI, TERRORIST GROUPS IN PAKISTAN, TERRORIST TALIBAN, THE 1400 YEARS OLD INCORRIGIBLE ENEMY, THE BATTLE FOR PAKISTAN SERIES, WAR AGAINST PAKISTAN &/OR ISLAM, WAR CRIMES, Zionist Enemy, Zionist-Hindutva axis of evil on December 21st, 2014
This should have been a committee of military and civil experts. The ISI, IB, MI , Police and civil servants who have experience of dealing with Taliban / TTP would have delivered an action plan which would have been prepared without any political considerations. TerrorismTerrorists have struck again in Peshawar. The Army Public School was attacked and over a hundred children were killed through point blank firing. It is the worst incident to have struck Pakistan ever since these animals started attacking our public and the Armed Forces.
All that we ever hear from our politicians is condemnation. They need to do more if the country is to be rid of this menace.The Army is fighting them but our Government has stayed executions of all condemned and sentenced terrorists. Even the killer of Salman Taseer continues to enjoy a VIP status in jail despite a death sentence because the Prime Minister and the President refuse to sign the black warrant under pressure from EU human rights group.There are now more then 8000 condemned prisoners in jails waiting for a jail break since our politicians would not carry out the sentence of death for their crimes.
The Army leadership has to get this stay lifted from the Prime Minister who should immediately order the start of executions instead of meaning less announcement of 3 days mourning.
The s at a large scale to hurt these animals.Anyone including Imran Khan and our religious parties who have been calling them as our people and speaking favorably about TTP must come out and condemn them with no holds barred.We can not afford to have these terrorists living in our midst.The Prime Minister must call a meeting of national security council and also order the police in all provinces to launch a full scale operation against all known cells and extremist moulvis / Madrassahs which prepare and harbor these terrorists.
We can not continue to remain quiet and indulge in power politics. The nation has to stand together and if some one does not stand up he should be condemned and isolated.
If at this moment the Prime Minister does not take charge and lead the fight, he should quit.If Imran does not stand with the nation, he should be told to get off as he is not fit to lead.The Army now has to not only assert itself with the Govt to issue necessary orders but also intensify their operations. We have suffered and our hearts ache for our brothers and sisters who have lost their dear children. May God bless these innocent souls.
Let the nation rise and prove ourselves worthy of being a respectable nation. If we fail now we are not fit to survive as a country worth living and will soon have the likes of ISIS and TTP ruling this gutless nation.
Lt Gen Javed Ashraf
Javed Ashraf <[email protected]>
Posted by admin in " RIAZ THE SHAITAN OF PAKISTAN, "BAHRIA TOWN, "Jihadi" Outfits of Terrorism, 4TH GENERATION US WAR AGAINST PAKISTAN, Asif Zardari Crook Par Excellance, BILAWAL ZARDARI BAMBINO KINGS OF CORRUPTION, ISHAQ DAR:THIEF OF PUNJAB, ISIS, MALIK RIAZ, Pakistan Fightsw Al-Qaeda, Taliban terrorists, TALIBAN-INDIA COOPERATION IN TERRORISM, TARGET PAKISTAN:4TH GENERATION WARFARE, TERRORISM FROM KARZAI SUPPORTED TALIBAN, TERRORISM IN KARACHI, TERRORIST GROUPS IN PAKISTAN, VICTIMS OF US DRONE ATTACKS on December 16th, 2014
Militants from the Pakistani Taliban have attacked a school in Peshawar, killing 141 people, 132 of them children, the military say.
Pakistani officials say the attack is now over, with all of the attackers killed. A total of seven militants took part, according to the army.
Scores of survivors are being treated in hospitals as frantic parents search for news of their children.
The attack is the deadliest ever by the Taliban in Pakistan.
There has been chaos outside hospital units to which casualties were taken, the BBC’s Shaimaa Khalil reports from Peshawar.
Bodies have been carried out of hospitals in coffins, escorted by crowds of mourners, some of them visibly distraught.
Empty coffins were delivered to a hospital in Peshawar in readiness for the removal of the dead
School pupil Mohammad Baqair lost his mother, a teacher, in the attackA Taliban spokesman told BBC Urdu that the school, which is run by the army, had been targeted in response to army operations.
Hundreds of Taliban fighters are thought to have died in a recent military offensive in North Waziristan and the nearby Khyber area.
US President Barack Obama condemned the “horrific attack (…) in the strongest possible terms”.
Analysis: Aamer Ahmed Khan, BBC News
This brutal attack may well be a watershed for a country long accused by the world of treating terrorists as strategic assets.
Pakistan’s policy-makers struggling to come to grips with various shades of militants have often cited a “lack of consensus” and “large pockets of sympathy” for religious militants as a major stumbling-block.
That is probably why, when army chief Gen Raheel Sharif launched what he called an indiscriminate operation earlier in the year against militant groups in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt, the political response was lukewarm at best.
We will get them, was his message, be they Pakistani Taliban, Punjabi Taliban, al-Qaeda and affiliates, or most importantly, the dreaded Haqqani network. But the country’s political leadership chose to remain largely silent. This is very likely to change now.
A total of 114 people were injuredMilitary spokesman Asim Bajwa told reporters in Peshawar that 132 children and nine members of staff had been killed.
All seven of the attackers wore suicide bomb vests, he said. Scores of people were also injured.
It appears the militants scaled walls to get into the school and set off a bomb at the start of the assault.
Children who escaped say the militants then went from one classroom to another, shooting indiscriminately.
One boy told reporters he had been with a group of 10 friends who tried to run away and hide. He was the only one to survive.
Others described seeing pupils lying dead in the corridors. One local woman said her friend’s daughter had escaped because her clothing was covered in blood from those around her and she had lain pretending to be dead.
Deadly attacks in Pakistan
16 December 2014: Taliban attack on school in Peshawar leaves at least 141 people dead, 132 of them children
22 September 2013: Militants linked to the Taliban kill at least 80 peopleat a church in Peshawar, in one of the worst attacks on Christians
10 January 2013: Militant bombers target the Hazara Shia Muslim minority in the city of Quetta, killing 120 at a snooker hall and on a street
28 May 2010: Gunmen attack two mosques of the minority Ahmadi Islamic sect in Lahore, killing more than 80 people
18 October 2007: Twin bomb attack at a rally for Benazir Bhutto in Karachi leaves at least 130 dead. Unclear if Taliban behind attack
A hospital doctor treating injured children said many had head and chest injuries.
Irshadah Bibi, a woman who lost her 12-year-old son, was seen beating her face in grief, throwing herself against an ambulance.
“O God, why did you snatch away my son?” AFP news agency quoted her as saying.
The school is near a military complex in Peshawar. The city, close to the Afghan border, has seen some of the worst of the violence during the Taliban insurgency in recent years.
Many of the students were the children of military personnel. Most of them would have been aged 16 or under.
Hundreds of parents are outside the school waiting for news of their children, according to Wafis Jan from the Red Crescent
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani Nobel laureate who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for the right to an education, condemned the attack.
“I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters, but we will never be defeated,” she said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has arrived in Peshawar, described the attack as a “national tragedy”. Pakistani opposition leader and former cricket captain Imran Khan condemned it as “utter barbarism”.
A Taliban spokesman was quoted by Reuters as saying the school had been attacked because the “government is targeting our families and females”.
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The fact that India has been training militants and then sending them to Pakistan for terrorist activities is not new. There have been various incidents in the past that have endorsed this suspicion. In the recent attack on the Karachi airport, the Involvement of foreign terrorists has been brought to surface. An Italian journalist has investigated the case of Indian involvement in the terrorist activities in Pakistan which has been an eye opener on this matter as this journalist is also a witness of the horrifying Indian project of terrorism in Pakistan.
According to the reports of the Italian journalist, an Indian training camp has been established near Tajikistan at Farkhore airbase and Aini airbase, where the young recruits of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are trained and sent to Pakistan for terrorist attacks. Indian secret agencies are recruiting individuals from the deprived sections of the society, who are enticed through a job on a heavy salary and their families are paid a handsome amount for their recruitment. These young men are given a lavish living in these camps and a religious Indian instructor gives them religious education based on extremism, terrorism and hate against Pakistan to brain wash these individuals.
These Indian instructors are fluent in Uzbek and Tajik languages. They instil concepts against Pakistan in these individuals and make them believe that Pakistan is responsible for the sufferings of the Muslims all over the world. They also make them believe that India is a supporter of religious harmony and peace and that its existence has been threatened by the nuclear ability of Pakistan. The instructor takes three weeks to instil these ideas into the minds of these recruits.
The recruits are then asked if they are ready for Jihad against Pakistan. Those answering with a ‘yes’ are given double the salary and are sent to training camps where they are prepared for attacks within 4 to 6 months. Those who are still not willing for attacks are then sent for further brain washing to India. The recruits are taught to use automatic weaponry and how to handle explosives. They are given gorilla training as well. During these camps, Indian girls are brought into these camps who mesmerize these individuals through their beauty and help them forget their worries completely.
After the completion of their training, the recruits are brought to India and then entered into the tribal areas of Pakistan via Afghanistan. According to reports, recruits from Fata and Balochistan are also included with these foreign recruits to make them feel at home. These camps have been operating since 2005, although their establishment was intended since 2002. But this fact has not been confessed at the government level which has still made this matter unidentifiable.
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