There are reports of children being recruited to fight in the war in Afghanistan and as suicide bombers.
Under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children in armed conflict is prohibited.
There are reports of children being recruited to fight in the war in Afghanistan and as suicide bombers.
Under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children in armed conflict is prohibited. Those who forcibly or compulsorily recruit children are guilty of violating international laws for the protection of the rights of the child.
On April 3, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) reported the arrest of a 17-year-old in Kabul’s 5th District. The boy who said his name was Baharullah (his father’s name has been shown Asadullah) admitted to having been deputed on a suicide mission.
“My name is Baharullah son of Asadullah. My uncle is Nasrullah famous as Ansar. My uncle made me join. They (Taleban) gave me a wireless and a Kalashnikov in three operations: in Nejrab, Charkala and Jokambaz. They gave me another name. (Omar) They told me go and do jihad so that you can go directly to paradise. They brought a boy who was a suicide attacker to me. He told me you are sitting useless at home, just eating, go and carry out suicide attack so that you can go to paradise,” according to a statement released by NSD.
Baharullah is not the first suicide bomber arrested by NDS. On March 22, a 12-year-old boy had surrendered to security forces in Nangarhar province. The boy was reported to have been trained for a suicide mission in a madrasa in Pakistan but he handed himself over to Afghan soldiers after he entered Afghanistan. He identified himself as Abozar, a resident of Wazir Bagh in Peshawar. He said his mother had died when he was very young and his father was a drug addict. It was his uncles who enlisted him in the madrasa. In his statement he said, ‘I was very small when my mother passed away. My father was addicted so my uncles enlisted me in a madrasa. I did my lessons there for two and half years. There were lessons about jihad. They used to show us videos and tell us to go to Afghanistan to fight the tyranny there and if we were to die as martyrs we would go directly to paradise. They asked ‘who is ready to go to Afghanistan?’ I told I am ready as I am alone.”
Lucky escape
It was only after he had crossed the border into Afghanistan that Abozar realised all that he had been told in the madrasa about Afghanistan was not true.
“The teachers in the madrasa told me that once I cross the border at Torkham I should catch a bus to Lal Poor (district). I was told I would be met by people who would give me a waistcoat (suicide vest). They would know me from my picture that was sent to them. When I got to Lal Poor I went into a mosque to perform my prayers. I saw Afghan police and soldiers of the national army also doing their prayers. I had been told there is tyranny (in Afghanistan) and all are atheists but I saw everyone was Muslim. So I told the people (about my mission) and I was handed over to the police.”
Abozar pleaded with the police not to send him back to Peshawar, where he had no one and the teachers of the madrasa would force him to go on another suicide mission.
Nangarhar Governor Salim Khan Kunduzi said that the boy could recite 24 of the 30 Separa from the Holy Quran. “This child who came here should become a good Qari (one who has learned by heart the holy book) and Islamic scholar. He should teach other youths and shine the light of wisdom,” said Kunduzi.
Boys are not the only ones being recruited by the insurgents. On Dec 28, 2013, a 14-year-old girl handed herself over to the police in Helmand. The authorities in Helmand said she had been trained in Nawzad district to carry out a suicide attack. Her name was Zarmina and she had been taken to the provincial capital Lashkargah.
Talking to the media Zarmina said she was a resident of Ormoz area in Helmand’s Nawzad district. She said her father had taken her to her maternal uncle whose house is in an area called Jazi to become a suicide bomber.
Blot on the country
The Taleban, however, continue to insist they do not recruit child warriors. Following the announcement of the death of Mullah Omar, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor who succeeded him last year, issued an order to all commanders that they were not to enlist adolescent boys. Afghanistan is among 14 countries in the world where the UN says children are recruited by armed groups.
The government also faces charges of recruiting boys who are under 18 into the security forces. Minister for Foreign Affairs Salahuddin Rabbani said last month in Kabul that the government was working towards removing child fighters.
There was a follow-up meeting on Mar 19 between Vice President Sarwar Danesh and the UN representative for children and armed conflict Leila Zerrogui.
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