Afghan police arrest 10yo would-be bombers

13 Feb 2012, 4:10 am   -   Source: AAP
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Two 10-year-old would-be bombers have been arrested in southern Afghanistan, months after President Hamid Karzai pardoned them over an earlier incident.

Police have arrested two 10-year-old "would-be bombers" in southern Afghanistan, months after President Hamid Karzai pardoned them over a similar incident.

"The two 10-year-old would-be bombers were arrested along with three other militants last week, while planning an attack on Afghan and international forces in Kandahar," provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayubi said.

The children had two vests full of explosives when they were arrested, he said.

They had previously been arrested by security forces when both were wearing explosive vests. They were reportedly released along with 18 other children last August after the Afghan president pardoned them and sent them home.

The two boys had gone to Pakistan after they were released but were sent back to Afghanistan after being trained to conduct suicide attacks.

"They told me I would be safe after conducting a suicide attack," one the boys, Azizullah, was quoted in a statement sent by Kandahar media office.

Ten years after being overthrown by US forces in response to al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, Taliban insurgents have shown a ruthless resilience to the West's military might.

Taliban militants have reportedly used children and teenagers to conduct attacks on security forces.

Azizullah said he was persuaded to carry out the attack at a training camp by militants who told him when "Americans fire at you ... they will not be able to hit you".

The second boy, named as Nasibullah in the statement, said he had been forced to join a militant team who handed him over to the Taliban.

"The Taliban forced me to fire a Kalashinkov ... I was scared at first. They also taught me how to blow my vest; they showed me how to press the button in my hand," he said, according to the statement.

"They then brought me to the city, asked me to sit on the side of the road and wait for foreign forces to come ... I was there when two police came and arrested me.

"I ask all my madrassa teachers not to teach kids to become suicide bombers."

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