Young boys recount time at Taliban camps

[Naveed Yaseen]

MINGORA: In a voice barely above a whisper, one of the boys recruited by the Taliban stared at his feet as he recounted haltingly how the Taliban kidnapped him and a classmate as they played in the street. He recounted how they cleaned dishes for a few days in a militant training camp before escaping during Friday prayers. The army says it has so far found 20 such boys in Swat. They believe the Taliban hoped to turn the boys into informants, fighters or even suicide bombers. Some escaped, others were rescued by authorities. Major Nasir Khan said many more were believed to be in Taliban hands. Eleven such boys - the youngest only about 7 years old – were presented to journalists on Monday at a military base in Mingora. Public opinion has been a major factor in the government’s war against the Taliban. When the operation in Swat and Malakand began in April, it came on the heels of a much-hyped video of a girl being flogged by masked Taliban, which generated much sympathy for the operation. Now, the army is counting on the harrowing ordeals of these young boys to help turn public opinion against the Taliban. Three of the boys appeared to be younger than 10 and were visibly traumatised, occasionally breaking down in tears. The others were mostly in their mid-teens. ap

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