Sindh

Militant in-training recounts his ordeal

"They convinced me to go to Waziristan. They warned me about talking to anybody, saying they would cut my throat."

Express October 25, 2010

KARACHI: Mohammad Salam, a young boy who was being trained by militants to carry out suicide bomb attacks, was recovered from the arrested members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Monday.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) recovered the boy when they arrested two members, Sher Rehman and Zain Ullah alias Bilal, of the banned militant outfit TTP from a house in the Sohrab Goth area of Karachi.

The arrested militants, also linked with the banned outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, were training the boy for a suicide attack in the northern areas of the country, said SSP Chaudhary Aslam.

Speaking to the media, Salam said that Sher Rehman had influenced him to go to Waziristan to carry out terrorist attacks.

“I also talked to Sher Rehman, and I told him I wanted to go to Afghanistan. He said he didn't know anybody in Afghanistan, but had contacts in Waziristan. I said I didn't want to go to Waziristan. They convinced me to go to Waziristan. They warned me about talking to anybody about this, saying they would slit my throat (if I talked)” said Salam.

The boy further said that he had been persuaded to 'wage jihad' by Zehar of Zehar's shop in Nankana.

Talking about Zehar, Salam said “he talked to me about jihad. He said it was a very good thing and we'll do it together. He said God will ask you on the Day of Judgement regarding what we have done for Him. If you have done nothing, you will be destined for Hell. He said if I am successful in a bomb blast, I will at least be able to say I ripped their bodies to pieces.”

Salam also mentioned that he was threatened by his mentors.

COMMENTS (11)

Masroor | 14 years ago | Reply Some people say that these suicide bombers do it for money & they are not part of taliban but in my opinion " a man can kill others for money but he cannot kill himself for money " they are misguided as salam said & do it for jannah. again ulema karam of taliban sect should play a role in stoping these things in the name of islam.

Masroor | 14 years ago | Reply I would request the Ulema karam of taliban sect to clear their position on these suicide attacks & killings of muslim of either sect. only they can stop these killings.

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Tanzeel | 14 years ago | Reply and they say Taliban don't exist in Karachi...In fact Hamid Mir of Geo tv dedicated an entire program to prove MQM wrong.

Shah | 14 years ago | Reply Lack of brains is the main reason. This one probably was seduced by the thought of having a few Hoors in Heaven, no one told him that it will be El Diablo himself would be giving him a few pointers.

Anis Qureshi | 14 years ago | Reply Maudoodi and other religious extremist including Saudia are main culprits of this radicalizations and death of these young boys.

Mohammed Abbasi | 14 years ago | Reply Effective counter radicalisation can only be achieved if at least some of these kids have some normal education that helps them to reason and think for themselves. We need a de-mullahfication of the educational system in Pakistan, the control of madrassas and womens rights in pakistan if pakistan is to have a positive and prosperous future

Maestro96 | 14 years ago | Reply Lack of education and an obsession of the state with religion is unleashing this wrath on Pakistan.

Zain | 14 years ago | Reply Lack of Education is the main reason for this. Unfortunately these young boys are brain washed into doing so and the government knowingly doesn't do anything about it. They capture a few here and there and they assume they have done well. They need to bring the Hammer down on them, flush them out. We can sit here and comment on what needs to be done, but how many of us are actually going to do anything about this? If we open schools in those areas the Jihadi's will blow them up! How many innocent men, women and children have to die, going about their normal lives before something is done?

Khan | 14 years ago | Reply you think its a joke how these poeple are manipulated to blow themselves up?

Syed A. Mateen | 14 years ago | Reply The story of Mohamad Salam will be not different from the stories of the other boys who have been killed in various suicide attacks in different cities. The main problem is that if any young boy from a family is missing, it is the duty of his parents/guardians to immediately report the matter to local police along with the photograph of the missing boy, so that police should start searching the boy before he arrive at the destination for obtaining the required training to become a militant or a suicide bomber, but this never happens. The boy is kept in illegal confinement by the enemies of Pakistan and under threat of the life of boy; the detained boy had no other choice except to act according to the wishes of his masters. There are number of newspapers published every day and also uncounted TV channels are viewed in the country by the people. If the photograph of the missing boy is published in the newspapers or shown on TV channels, the missing boy can be located easily, before he acts in the way he is told by his masters.

Anoop | 14 years ago | Reply I hope there were Tests and Exams for these would-be suicide bombers. How wonderful would that be!

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