12 children kidnapped by militants says Swat Police Chief

[dr.umer]

Pakistan police say children kidnapped by militants​

5 November 2008

Pakistani police were trying today to negotiate the release of about a dozen children they said were kidnapped by Islamist militants on suspicion of spying for security forces.

Militant violence has intensified in north-western Pakistan this year with a series of suicide attacks on the police, military and political leaders in which hundreds of people have been killed.

The militants have also kidnapped people and executed suspected spies. They have also occasionally tried to recruit school children.

The children, aged 8 to 11, were abducted from a government school in the Swat Valley, north-west of Islamabad yesterday, police said.

"We got information about the kidnapping and we checked with the militants through our own sources and it was confirmed that the children are with the militants," Swat police chief Dilawar Bangash told Reuters.

"The militants believe that the children were spying for the security forces."

Authorities were negotiating with the militants to secure the safe release of the children, he said.

"We told them that these children are innocent and have nothing to do with violence. We hope the children will be released soon," Bangash said.

A militant spokesman denied holding the children.

"It's propaganda against us," Muslim Khan, a Pakistani Taliban spokesman in Swat, said yesterday.

"What would we get by kidnapping children?" Khan said by telephone. He was not available for further comment today.

Swat was one of Pakistan's main tourist destinations until early last year, when militants crossed from sanctuaries on the Afghan border to support a radical cleric in the area.

Intermittent fighting in the valley increased again in August. The military has also been fighting insurgents in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border west of Swat since August.

Last year, a clash broke out between police and militants in the northwestern town of Tank after the militants tried to recruit schoolboys for their insurgency.

Militants abducted two Chinese telecommunications engineers in Dir, also west of Swat, in late August to press the government to stop military operations.

One of the engineers was recovered last month but the other is still being held.

 

[dr.umer]

Another act of typical criminal mentality.

These militants don't deserve any mercy. Nation requires their immediate elimination by all possible means.

 

[Always Neutral]

Another act of typical criminal mentality.

These militants don't deserve any mercy. Nation requires their immediate elimination by all possible means.

Try explaining to Mr. Dimwit aka Waraich and others.

Regards

 

[dr.umer]

Taliban release kidnapped Pakistani schoolboys​

6 Nov 2008

Pakistani Taliban militants have released unharmed a group of schoolboys they abducted on suspicion of spying for the security forces, police said Thursday.

Police in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, had earlier said about a dozen children, aged 8 to 11, had been kidnapped from outside their school Tuesday and authorities were negotiating with militants for their release.

But Swat police chief Dilawar Bangash told Reuters on Thursday seven schoolboys aged between 15 and 19, had been kidnapped and all had been released.

"Our earlier information was based on reports from sources and people in the area," Bangash said in Swat's main town of Mingora.

"Now we have confirmed reports that they were seven in number, all teenagers, and all have been returned to their homes."

A militant spokesman, Muslim Khan, confirmed that the schoolboys had been released after assurances from their parents that they would not get involved in any anti-militant activities.

Militant violence has intensified in northwest Pakistan this year with a spate of suicide bombings and attacks on security forces and political leaders in which hundreds of people have been killed.

The militants have also kidnapped people and executed suspected spies. They have also occasionally tried to recruit schoolchildren.

Swat was one of Pakistan's main tourist destinations until early last year, when militants flocked in from sanctuaries on the Afghan border to support a radical cleric in the area.

Intermittent fighting in the valley increased again in August. The military has also been fighting insurgents in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border, west of Swat, since August.