CHILD SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 5, INJURES AT LEAST 14 AT WEDDING IN AFGHANISTAN
A 13-year-old boy on
Friday reportedly detonated a suicide bomb at a wedding party in Nangarhar,
eastern Afghanistan, home to the most prominent Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL)
stronghold in the region, killing at least five people and injuring 14 others,
according to local officials.
“The explosion
happened at the wedding of commander Malak Tor’s nephew, specifically at the
time when food was being served and many people had gathered in one place,”
Atahullah Khogyani, a spokesman for Nangarhar province’s governor, told Al
Jazeera. “Among the [five] dead is Tor himself and one child,” Khogyani added.
News reports on the
casualty figures from the attack vary. Khogyani revised the number of people
injured down to 14 from 40. The number of fatalities from the deadly incident
ranged from five to ten. Khogyani revealed:
On July 12 that the bomber,
a young boy, set off his explosives inside the house of militia commander Malek
Tor, who was killed in the attack in Pacheragam district. Tor had led a group
fighting against the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) extremist group. Khogyani
said the dead included Tor’s two sons, a child, and five other civilians.
The Nangarhar province the spokesman revealed that the 13-year-old boy detonated his explosives inside the
house of a pro-government militia commander in Pacheragam district who had been
helping Afghan forces in their fight against ISIS and the Taliban. The Taliban
has also targeted pro-government militias in the recent past, killing and
wounding dozens. Friday’s report about the child suicide bomber surfaced a few
months after the United Nations revealed that — as well as jihadi groups — the
U.S.-backed Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) also recruits
child soldiers, a practice prohibited by international law.
In February, the
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported:
UNAMA continued to
receive reports of recruitment and use of children by Anti-Government Elements,
Afghan national security forces, and pro-government armed groups.
Anti-Government Elements continued to recruit and use children for combat
roles, and while progress has been made within the Afghan national security
forces concerning formal recruitment of children, the use of children remained
a problem.
In 2018, UNAMA
documented the recruitment and use of 38 children (37 boys and one girl), the
majority in the eastern region [home to Nangarhar]. It attributed the
recruitment and use of 17 children [by various jihadi groups including ISIS and
the Taliban]. Children continue to be recruited by Anti-Government Elements to
plant IEDs, transport explosives, assist in intelligence gathering, carry out
suicide attacks and participate in hostilities.
The recruitment of
children also remains a problem at ANDSF, which includes police and military
troops. ANDSF’s development is funded by the most substantial portion (over $80
billion) of the American taxpayer subsidized nation-building efforts in
Afghanistan since 2001 when the war began. UNAMA also acknowledged that
recruited children are subjected to sexual abuse, particularly the abhorrent
Bacha Bazi, a now illegal ancient custom in Afghanistan where boys are sexually
abused by powerful men.
Some Taliban jihadis
have reportedly used Afghan soldiers affinity for young boys to have them
infiltrate the ANDSF ranks and kill them, according to the Agence France-Presse
(AFP) news agency. Last year, the number of children fatalities, mainly by the
Taliban reached unprecedented levels in Afghanistan — 3,062 child casualties
(927 deaths and 2,135 injured). No group has claimed responsibility for the
wedding party attack, but Islamic State militants have executed a string of
suicide attacks in recent weeks on government offices, schools, and aid groups
in recent years in Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar.
The U.S. military has
determined that Nangahar houses the strongest bastion held by ISIS in the the region, which American armed forces officials believe is intent on attacking
the American homeland. Both the Taliban and ISIS operate in Nangarhar, one of
Afghanistan’s’ top opium-rich regions that generate hundreds of millions in
terror funding for jihadis. The Taliban has denied responsibility for the
recent suicide bombing. Nevertheless, Taliban-linked Islamic education
institutions known as madrassas are known to target children in vulnerable poor
families, promising to pay their expenses, provide food and clothing for the
boys, and at times even cash to convince the families to send their kids to
madrassas.
Taliban rival the
Islamic State, or IS, also targets children for recruitment, Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RG) reported in August 2018, noting: Besides
brutalizing women, IS fighters have also killed local elders and those who they
considered government sympathizers. Locals say the militants also used children
as soldiers, a claim supported by the high number of children or young men
among the IS fighters who surrendered to government forces. The U.S. is engaged
in peace negotiations with Afghanistan to end America’s longest military
engagement, for which the American public has lost its appetite.
Source: Breitbart- 12 July 2019
By Edwin Mora
https://bit.ly/2JGmpiF
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