THE INDEPENDENT: Army discovers boys as young as nine brainwashed in Swat valley training camp
Pakistan said yesterday it had rescued 20 young boys who were among hundreds recruited by the Taliban and brainwashed into becoming suicide bombers at a secret indoctrination camp.
The boys, some as young as nine, have revealed details of how they were induced to become part of the Taliban's army of jihad inside Pakistan and told their rescuers that more than 1,000 children may be undergoing training in the special camp in the Swat valley. Their discovery by the army as troops were sweeping through the valley conducting the final stages of a military offensive against the Taliban underscores the organisation's power over poor Pakistani communities and the extreme lengths Taliban commanders are willing to go to achieve their aims.
The rescued children were held at a training camp in the Charbagh area of the Swat valley, where their indoctrination programme reportedly lasted more than a month. Some were recovered as the army was carrying out "search and sweep" operations as part of the final stages of its military offensive in the valley, while others were handed over to the army by worried parents. >>> Omar Waraich in Islamabad | Wednesday, July 29, 2009
