Sunday, July 24, 2005
Taliban recruiting children in desperation
Associated Press
Kabul, July 24, 2005
Fierce fighting in recent months has devastated the ranks of the Taliban, prompting the rebels to recruit children and force some families to provide one son to fight with them, a US commander said.
The fighting has fractured the Taliban's command structure, preventing the militants from regrouping, even though there has been an upsurge in violence, Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, the US military operational commander in Afghanistan, said in an interview on Saturday.
Despite the setback -- more than 500 rebels have been killed since March -- the militants are likely to step up attacks in the lead-up to crucial September 18 legislative elections, he said.
"The Taliban and Al-Qaeda feel that this is their final chance to impede Afghanistan's progress to ... becoming a nation," Kamiya said. "They will challenge us all the way through September 18."
He said the rebels were desperately trying to recruit new fighters to replace those killed recently, and has even forced families in some areas "to give up one son to fight."
"They have been hit so hard they now have to recruit more fighters. They are recruiting younger and younger fighters: 14, 15 and 16 years-olds," Kamiya said. "The enemy is having a hard time keeping its recruit rates up."
While the rebels have long been thought to have children in their ranks, there have been few reports of wide-scale child recruiting by the Taliban -- especially of those as young as 14.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.