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June 25, 2007

6-year-old 'Dirt-caked' Afghan Boy Who Collects Scrap Metal For Money, 'Tricked' By Taliban Into Being Suicide Bomber

This story has been all over cable media today, but the real gut-wrenching, heart-tearing facts have been left out:

[...] Taliban fighters forced him to wear a vest they said would spray out flowers when he touched a button. He said they told him that when he saw American soldiers, "throw your body at them."

The militants cornered Juma in a Taliban-controlled district in southern Afghanistan's Ghazni province. Their target was an impoverished youngster being raised by an older sister--but also one who proved too street-smart for their plan.

"When they first put the vest on my body I didn't know what to think, but then I felt the bomb," Juma told The Associated Press as he ate lamb and rice after being introduced to the elders at this joint U.S.- Afghan base in Ghazni. "After I figured out it was a bomb, I went to the Afghan soldiers for help."

... Abdul Rahim Deciwal, the chief administrator for Juma's village of Athul, brought the boy and an older brother, Dad Gul, to a weekend meeting between Afghan elders and U.S. Army Col. Martin P. Schweitzer.

... As Deciwal told Juma's story, 20 Afghan elders repeatedly clicked their tongues in sadness and disapproval. When the boy and his brother were brought in, several of the turban-wearing men welled up, wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs.

... "If anybody has a heart, then how can you control yourself (before) these kids?" Deciwal said in broken English.

... a gory Taliban video that surfaced in April showed militants instructing a boy of about 12 as he beheaded an alleged traitor with a large knife.

[...] Fidgety but smiling during all the attention, Juma told the AP that he had been scared when he was surrounded by Taliban fighters. He cupped his hands together to show the size of the bomb, then ran his hands along his waist to show where it was on his body.

A fan of soccer, Juma said his favorite subject in school is Pashto, his native language, but he also showed off a little English, shyly counting "1, 2, 3" before breaking out in an oversize smile.

As you can see, the part of the story left out of the cable media reports make the story all the more heartfelt for the child, and disgusting of the Islamists who value the death of people they hate far more than the life of an innocent child.

Posted by Abdul at June 25, 2007 4:48 PM