Child soldiers?: Quetta police arrests eleven underage bombers

Pakistani police produce young children, suspected of planting bombs, to the media in Quetta on March 13, 2013. PHOTO: AFP

QUETTA: Balochistan Police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested eleven children aged between 11 to 16 years, who were allegedly involved in carrying out the  Bacha Khan blast in Quetta, Express News reported.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Quetta Zubair Mehmood at a press conference in Quetta on Wednesday claimed that the detained children had admitted their role in the bomb blast that shook Bacha Khan chowk in Quetta in January. The convicts apparently worked for the little known United Baloch Army (UBA).

The blast at Bacha Khan square in January had killed 12 people and injured many others. Sixteen year-old Sabir, among those detained, was particularly used in that blast.

Mehmood said that the children had admitted to receiving Rs3,000 for each of the attacks they carried out. The CCPO said that terrorist organisations exploited the poverty of these children.

The CCPO further said that these children were arrested after an exchange of fire between police and militants on Tuesday night. He added that at least eight handlers managed to escape. Police also claimed to have recovered seven rockets, anti-personnel mines, chemicals, safety fuse wires, 10kg of explosive material, and explosive rods.

UBA had lured the children, who came from poor families, to leave packages containing home-made bombs in markets, dustbins and on routes used by police and security forces, Mehmood said.

Mehmood said the militants chose the youngsters knowing that police would not suspect small children or garbage collectors.

“Some of the children said they did not know what the packets contained and what they are doing,” he said.

“They said they were happy they would get a small amount of money for dropping the packets.”

Some of the boys, aged between 10 and 17, have confessed to involvement in about a dozen blasts in the city including the Bacha Khan blast where a bomb exploded near a vehicle of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), he said.

The January 10 bomb blast killed two FC soldiers and nine civilians near the Bacha Khanchowk.

Baluchistan has been hit by an insurgency in recent years by Baluch nationalists demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the province’s wealth of natural oil, gas and mineral resources.

The province has also been the focus of rising sectarian violence and Quetta has been hit by two huge bombings this year targeting minority Shiite Muslims that have killed nearly 200 people.

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Child bombers

This has reference to a group photo flashed yesterday Wed 13th March 2013 in daily Tribune showing many children being hand cuffed by police in Quetta on the ground that they are being trained to carry heinous crimes and create panic and havoc through bomb blasts etc. The news says that as many as 11 children aged between 11 and 16 have been hauled up on this account and some children have confessed that they have been paid some money by the gangsters to carry out subversive activities in and around the provincial capital of Baluchistan. To me this news has two distinct faces and must be dealt accordingly if at all we are sincere to ourselves and our nation otherwise just arresting and punishing the children is not the answer to be honest.

Zubair Mahmood, City Police Chief, Quetta has been too loud and proud to address a press conference announcing that after very long hectic efforts police has succeeded to arrest these children which on the face of it is a commendable effort on the part of the police to arrest these boys otherwise some of them, if not all of them, may have succeeded in attacking us anytime anywhere and killing and injuring any numbers of people which had always been the case in the past so from that point of view Quetta police did succeed in saving some precious lives. Perhaps it will be fine and fair if the police party which succeeded in apprehending these children can be given some meritorious certificates if not cash and promotion to unearth such subversive gang but nevertheless it is not the end of it as someone may construe alike. Some of these children have also admitted that they were used to carry out a bomb attack in Bacha Khan Area of Quetta in January, 2013 when 12 people were killed and many were injured. They also told that each child is paid Rs 3,000/ to carry out such an activity and they have been engaged by an organization called United Baluch Army which is not that known entity in any case. Children have also told the police that they are given some packets without telling us the contents with the instructions that the same to be dropped at some designated places like on road side or near garbage dump etc from where police or other law enforcing agencies normally pass through so that as and when they pass through the packet they be hit. UBA is very right to maintain that since small children are engaged to carry out sabotage activities so they will not be spotted simply because it is generally believed that so small children are supposed to be studying or playing and not involved in such like inhumane activities and that is why UBA is exploiting the children accordingly. It is also reported that these children come from poor families which is quite understandable simply because an empty belly will do whatever to fill his or her hunger and this is what is very important and needs to be addressed to.

Once the news is flashed it is quite obligatory for our government welfare department to come into action in a sense that they must approach the police to meet these children so that their parents can be contacted. The children coming from poverty stricken families cannot and should not be blamed exclusively to be engaged in anti human activities rather it is really high time for us to trace back as to why and how so innocent lives have been turned and obliged to be criminals. As per divine law none had even been born as criminal nor is none being born now as criminal or anyone will be born as criminal in future too. Therefore, it is undisputed that these 11 children were born as innocent as anyone else but unluckily they being hungry have fallen prey to UBA which as such needs to be addressed to. Our government in particular and society in general has an inborn obligation to look after the people and ensure that each one of us at least gets basic life necessities if not more but if this aspect is ignored then not only these 11 but more children are likely to become prey to scoundrels and vagabonds. I can say with full confidence and conviction that once we start looking after those who are hungry we at some point of time can eliminate poverty from our beloved Pakistan and once it has been done these children will turn to be very responsible citizens rather than turning as criminals.

The parents of these 11 children must be under constant pain and agony to see their own blood handcuffed but perhaps since they could not feed their kids they lost control on them which unfortunately has been cashed by UBA and the result is that they are controlled by inhuman gangsters to carry out acts which are very much in humane. It is very high and ripe time for us to rise to the occasion and come forward with open hands to help those who are starving so that they also eat three meals a day like us. Undoubtedly many of the crimes committed in our society are because of dire economic trodden situations of our people and once we succeed in removing tears and instead infusing pleasure and smile on their faces we will notice that crime rate will drop down very much considerably but if still nothing is done then we must be prepared to have brigades and not platoons of more human bombers. As a matter of fact this problem and solution has been discussed many times before too so there is nothing new but ever since no concrete steps in the right direction have been taken till today I just took a chance to send as new tinkle on the subject believing that someone will look after it now if not earlier.

Please do give your candid opinion on above even if you are against me.

Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait