Militants kidnap 25 Pakistani boys in Afghanistan

[pak-marine]

May God keep them safe and they get out soon .... why cant PA take any action to recover our boys ... SSG can come in handy

 

[Oldman1]

Pakistani Taliban claim kidnapping up to 25 boys - Yahoo! News

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters)- Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for holding up to 25 boys hostage as punishment for tribesmen who supported the military in the country's troubled northwest.

Pakistani officials said Friday militants in Afghanistan kidnapped the boys after they mistakenly crossed the border while on an outing in the border tribal region of Bajaur on Wednesday.

A Pakistani Taliban spokesman said they held the boys, and their fate would be decided by the militants from Bajaur.

"We have kidnapped them as their parents and tribal elders are helping the government and are fighting against us," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters from an undisclosed location.

He said they held between 20 to 25 boys, but did not say where they have been kept. Bajaur's top government administrator, Islam Zeb, said 25 boys were missing.

A group of around 60 boys took part in the outing but about 20 below ten years old were allowed to return to Pakistan, while up to 40 others between 12 to 14 years old were held, officials said earlier.

Ehsan said they had a plan of mass-scale kidnappings and expected people in large number to visit the border region on Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holy festival that was celebrated this week, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Security officials said they learned of the kidnappings when the parents of the children, members of a tribe that inhabits the frontier area, informed them of the abductions on Friday.

The boys belonged to tribesmen from Mamoun who are opposed to al Qaeda and the Taliban and have raised militias to fight them, angering militants who often hit back with bombings and shooting attacks.

Bajaur is opposite the eastern Afghan province of Kunar and has long been an infiltration route for militants entering Afghanistan to fight U.S.-led forces there.

Hundreds of Pakistani militants fled to Kunar in the face of Pakistani military offensives in Bajaur, officials say.
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Thats the price to pay for fighting against the Taliban.

 

[nForce]

Thats bad.Hope they don't turn them in to suicide bombers.

 

[President Camacho]

Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for holding up to 25 boys hostage as punishment for tribesmen who supported the military in the country's troubled northwest.

A Pakistani Taliban spokesman said they held the boys, and their fate would be decided by the militants from Bajaur.

"We have kidnapped them as their parents and tribal elders are helping the government and are fighting against us," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters from an undisclosed location.

So they kidnap the boys to "punish" their parents.

A group of around 60 boys took part in the outing but about 20 below ten years old were allowed to return to Pakistan, while up to 40 others between 12 to 14 years old were held, officials said earlier.

But they decide not to punish those parents whose children were below 10 years of age.

Why not children below 10 years of age? Because they make lousy suicide bombers.

Shakirullah Shakir, the newest replacement for Qari Hussain Mehsud, was killed on 27th June. Since then the TTP has suffered from a void of Fidayeen experts.

Although the TTP in the past has acted in kind, and released the abducted students, this time, one may not be so sure.

 

[Doctor09]

if the jirga failed to release these children from terrorists then Pakistan should send SSG to rescue these children.......

 

[President Camacho]

Had to be like this...

Pakistani Taliban claim holding 30 abducted boys


KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — The Pakistani Taliban said Saturday they are holding around 30 Pakistani boys who were abducted three days ago after being lured across the border into Afghanistan.

The group's spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said the boys were kidnapped because they belong to a tribe opposed to the militants. He said the Taliban will decide the boys' fate and set conditions for a possible release.

Pakistani officials have said the boys, who are between 12 and 15 years old, were seized on Thursday in Afghanistan's Kunar province after crossing over from their villages in the Bajur border region. They were allegedly lured by a man who invited them to play in a river.

Ahsan did not say where or how the boys were seized, only that the Taliban are holding them. He also claimed they are over 20 years of age, significantly higher than the age given by Pakistani officials.

"They belong to a tribe that is always up against the militants," Ahsan told The Associated Press over the phone from an undisclosed location.

Militants often target people from tribes who oppose — or do not support — them.

Also, large groups of militants from Afghanistan have been attacking security checkpoints in Pakistan in recent months in deadly cross-border raids. The Pakistani army has said the attackers are militants who fled the military's offensives in Pakistan and are using Afghan soil as a safe haven.

The Taliban announcement on holding the boys appears to strengthen that claim. It is also an indication of the complexity of fighting militants along the volatile and porous border.

On Friday, the top Pakistani official in Bajur, Islam Zeb, said the militants initially seized around 40 boys but released those under the age of 12 and allowed them to travel back home.

Border of Afghanistan and Pakistan in that area is marked with high peaks, and these "kids" strayed away while "picnicking"?

 

[muse]

Going throughthe responses - at least for me, I can discount Jana's posts, AZ seems to think it's more productive to bash the Indian than to ask how it is that with all of Pakistan available, that these children end up in Talib infested areas to "picnic" and it seems very few are willing to ask if it makes sense that parents send children by themselves to picnic in a Talib infested area.

I'm concerned because few things don't make sense here and even fewer people want to look at things critically - instead, the usual appeal to the supernatural.

Only Rafi, has responded with some reality -- The Pakistani state is a giant, if it wants mountains to disappear overnight, then that's just what will happen.

In this case it seems to that the state finds itself over a barrel, so to speak, if it acts militarily, it will find itself in a ambush, if it does not act, then of course it is open to charges that it does not care -- and this consideration, to me, suggests that this is not some crime of opportunity, but a well planned out operation and the collusion of one or more set of parents or chaperons, if there were any, should not be diminished.

 

[Rafi]

so taliban got 30 more suicide bombers...not good

Brainwashed children are victims, it's the scum bags who make them so, deserve to have their nuts removed by RPG.

 

[President Camacho]

Going throughthe responses - at least for me, I can discount Jana's posts, AZ seems to think it's more productive to bash the Indian than to ask how it is that with all of Pakistan available, that these children end up in Talib infested areas to "picnic" and it seems very few are willing to ask if it makes sense that parents send children by themselves to picnic in a Talib infested area.

I'm concerned because few things don't make sense here and even fewer people want to look at things critically - instead, the usual appeal to the supernatural.

Only Rafi, has responded with some reality -- The Pakistani state is a giant, if it wants mountains to disappear overnight, then that's just what will happen.

In this case it seems to that the state finds itself over a barrel, so to speak, if it acts militarily, it will find itself in a ambush, if it does not act, then of course it is open to charges that it does not care -- and this consideration, to me, suggests that this is not some crime of opportunity, but a well planned out operation and the collusion of one or more set of parents or chaperons, if there were any, should not be diminished.

I try not to highlight parts in my posts so as to keep the enthusiastic yet non-serious members from responding.

You should go through that news piece I posted here. Ahsan (the spokesman) claims that the Pakistani officials are lying and that those "picnicking children" are mostly men aged 20+.

Not sure about the parents, but the Chaperon part does make a lot of sense.

 

[muse]

If Ahsan is being truthful than the "official" line, then the question arises how they got such a big group together - Dailytimes is suggesting that the number is 40 -- it's all, murky.

 

[President Camacho]

If Ahsan is being truthful than the "official" line, then the question arises how they got such a big group together - Dailytimes is suggesting that the number is 40 -- it's all, murky.

"Murky" is the right one word description for this incident.

Ahsan will say what suits him and his purposes. And the officials will do the same as well. But it is a bit difficult for me to digest that the cut off age was 18 for all those that went for the picnic.

Different news agencies are reporting different numbers, ranging from 25-50. But even if they were merely 25 (in number) - that is still a very large number for a group of children to venture out in places that they shouldn't.

Then the story goes - They were lured by a man who invited them to play in the river. It makes me wonder what source told the officials that some man lured them to play in the river. Because the same source (released children?) could also tell the officials how and where they were abducted.

But whomever Ahsan called, had to ask him how and where the boys were seized, and Ahsan refused to tell.

It appears as if no body wants to give out any specific details.

 

[muse]

"Lured" then to "play in the river" -- Morons, is what they would have to be "lured" -- really the "sadehghi" is, well...

It appears as if no body wants to give out any specific details.

Which suggests that a carefully crafted picture is being sent out - questions not welcome, the Pakistani state against the wall, uncaring, and ruthless - the "Mujahideen", well, they are fighting a Jihad and everyone understands that in a Jihad against the apostate, we must accept that Mujahideen can do only what is acceptable because they are Muslims and Pakistan is an apostate state.

 

[Executioner]

Then the story goes - They were lured by a man who invited them to play in the river. It makes me wonder what source told the officials that some man lured them to play in the river..

I hope he wasn't a Pathan who invited them to play in the river. Bano se parindey bhi ulate ho k jate hai.

 

[TruthSeeker]

From a BBC article:

3 September 2011 Last updated at 14:49 ET

Pakistan Taliban abducted boys 'to punish Mamund tribe'

By Shahzeb Jillani
BBC News


Dozens of boys from the Mamund tribe were on an outing in the tribal region of Bajaur, along the Afghan border, when they were abducted on Thursday.

Family members and tribal elders are reported to be involved in efforts to secure the boys' release.

Members of the Mamund tribe live on both sides of the border.

'Devastated'
A Taliban spokesperson, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said the mass kidnapping had been planned, as the militants had advance knowledge that the boys would be visiting a scenic picnic spot during the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holidays.

The spokesperson denied that many of the hostages were children.

But Waheedullah, an eyewitness who escaped the abduction, told the BBC that most of the boys were below 18, with some as young as 10.

Mohammed Jan, the father of 14-year old Rehmatullah, who is among those kidnapped, said: "Our family is devastated. All we can do is pray for his safe return."

The Taliban are said to have demanded the release of some prisoners held in Pakistan in exchange for the boys. But this has not be confirmed by Pakistani officials.

Over the past few years, influential members of the Mamund tribe have sided with Pakistani military and raised private militias to fight the Taliban.

The government says the cooperation has helped clear the area of Taliban influence.

It says many militants have based themselves across the border in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, from where they are known to have carried out attacks in north-western Pakistan.

 

[Tshering22]

Brainwashed children are victims, it's the scum bags who make them so, deserve to have their nuts removed by RPG.

Appreciate the punishment you prescribed by then why do you guys howl when drones strike? Most of the time news media make headlines that are politically motivated about these and you guys get pissed. Do you seriously think US has come all the way from mainland country to Afghanistan to kill women and kids? If that was the idea they could have simply launched ballistic missiles indiscriminately and nothing could be done about it.

Drones strike to kill the scumbags like the ones you mentioned the brutal punishment for. They continue to breed more terrorism into your country and practically all of CAR neighbors that are scared of jihad entering their volatile and small countries. Their military is not as strong as yours and hence all the burden falls on Russia if something goes wrong there.

True that there are tragic casualties in drone strikes but to outrightly believe that US has come thousands of mile spending billions and billions just to kill civilians is total bullcrap. So? I think there's a reason why Drones continue to fly with people like these kidnapping kids and creating more terrorists.