Trained to die
Two ‘would-be’ suicide bombers, in the custody of the FC in Bajaur,
share their respective stories
By Daud Khattak
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/dec2009-weekly/nos-27-12-2009/dia.htm#1
I left early Tuesday morning for Bajaur Agency. It was a nearly five-hours’ drive to reach the tribal agency located north of Peshawar and joining border with the Afghan province of Kunar.
The security forces launched a massive operation in Bajaur in August 2009 to root out the militants led by Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, the deputy chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). We got the army escort from Mardan to avoid kidnapping which is rampant in tribal areas and parts of NWFP these days. Passing through the Malakand Pass, we entered Dir Lower, where a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Khurshid Police Lines during Friday prayers last week and killed a dozen civilians.
Driving on the bumpy road in Munda tehsil of Dir Lower, I reached the Torghundi Fort of Dir Scouts. Another escort arrived from Khar, the headquarters of Bajaur Agency and I was taken to the Frontier Corps (FC) main centre in Khar.
On the way, schools were open and young boys and girls could be seen leaving schools for their homes. However, the number was not as before as thousands of Bajaur people are still living as IDPs in two camps – Katcha Garhi in Peshawar and Jalozai in Nowshera district. Though roadside markets were open, there was less business activity and the rush of people was thinner.
The road leading from Tor Ghundi to Khar and onward to Mamoond and Loy Sam, once the hotbeds of Taliban, was manned by levies and FC personnel. Here I met Usman Ghani who was trained as a suicide bomber.
Fourteen-year-old Usman Ghani is perhaps the luckiest boy to have escaped a horrible end despite being trained as a suicide bomber by the Taliban and sent on a suicide mission.
Hailing from Khar, the agency headquarters of Bajaur, Ghani was forcefully picked up by four armed Taliban from his house one morning about a year ago and taken to Bandai area of Mamoond tehsil to be trained as a suicide bomber.
Son of a poor lock-maker, Gul Khan, Ghani’s family could do little but to pray to Almighty Allah and shed tears over his fate as the armed men told them (the family) that he was going to be trained as a suicide bomber. The hapless father kept mum as he was accused by the Taliban of selling charas (hashish). "Give us your son or get ready to be slaughtered in public for selling hashish" was the threat from Taliban that kept Lal Zaman silent.
It was after four months that the boy managed to escape the Taliban prison, came back to his house, then to Mardan and finally ended up in the hands of security personnel three months ago. He is presently being kept at the Bajaur FC Fort and undergoing rehabilitation, although no psychiatrist is available there for proper treatment.
A blind-folded Usman, who studied up to grade 4 at a primary school in Khar, said after being picked up from his house by Taliban, he was taken to Banadai area of Mamoond tehsil, headquarters of Taliban chief in Bajaur Maulvi Faqir Muhammad. The eldest son of his father, (Usman has five brothers and one sister), Usman said four among the Taliban were residents of his area.
Reaching the Taliban centre of Mamoond, he was presented before three bearded men who told him that his father was selling hashish and he had to work for them (Taliban) to avoid punishment for his family. "Get ready to be a suicide bomber or be slaughtered," the three men told the young boy.
"Upon refusal, I was fastened to a post for six days and severely beaten up. Finally I agreed to become their recruit because I could not bear further torture," the young boy told TNS in an exclusive interview.
After his agreement to become a suicide bomber, the militants took him to a room, where he met two other boys, one of his age and the other a little older than him, who were also brought from somewhere for the same purpose. The three bearded men visited them the same night and started preaching about the benefits of Jihad and suicide attacks. "One among them was Mullah Abdullah, who is resident of Banadai village of Mamoond tehsil and whom I knew," he continued.
"You are lucky to be chosen for this sacred mission. This will take you straight to paradise where you will meet beautiful women and streams of honey and milk," said one of the three people. "You’re going to sacrifice your lives in the way of Allah and you will get a place in paradise, but don’t forget us when you go there."
Usman said after repeating the practice of giving them emotional lectures, showing them CDs and playing audio cassettes for a week, one of the mentors asked him: "Are you ready to be a Fidayee (one who sacrifices his life in the way of God) and I replied in negative because the lectures had no effects upon me."
When they failed to persuade him through lectures, audio and visuals, they started administering him medicines. "One of the three men blindfolded me one night and handed me a tablet and directed to swallow the same," he said. "I asked what this is, and he said it was good for your health," said the boy who added that he went into a state of forgetfulness after taking the tablet and could no more recall his brothers, sister and parents.
"Everything they told me seemed justified and I got emotional and the whole world changed just in 10 minutes. Then they started telling me that the army and police were the enemies of Islam and we have to safeguard our religion and I started believing in their words," said the boy.
"I said yes to become a suicide bomber and they patted me on the back," Usman recalled. He said the practice of administering the pills continued for at least one week "after which they started instructing me on how to reach the target, how to draw the pin, how to walk towards your target and how to detonate the explosives."
"Whenever I used to ask for prayers and water for ablution, the trainers told me that you don’t need to pray as you have already won a place in paradise because of your sacred mission and I used to believe their words," he recalled.
About civilians as targets he said, "They used to tell me that don’t care much about civilians because those pious among them would go to paradise while the sinful would get their place in the hell. You will get the credit for sending the faithfuls to paradise and sinfuls to hell."
After completion of his training, Usman said he was introduced to the Taliban chief Maulvi Faqir Muhammad who again kept him for two days and delivered him lectures about the "great sacrifice" by becoming a suicide bomber and the leisure in life after death.
He was then handed over to Maulvi Omar, the then Taliban spokesman who is now in the custody of security forces. He instructed him to go to the targeted mosque for prayers so that people may not consider him a stranger when he walks in the streets.
The last thing that Usman did before going after his target was to fire with an AK-47 assault rifle in front of a video camera in the presence of his mentors at an unknown location. Then he was asked to go to the mosque on Friday and detonate the explosive vest in the second row of the mosque to kill a tribal elder (Malak Rahmatullah, the name told by the boy).
"To send me on the mission, they brought a suicide vest but it was a little larger than my size. They replaced it with another one that fitted me," he said. Usman said it was his luck or the mercy of God that he suddenly recalled his youngest brother as soon as he reached the mosque for the explosion. "I looked at copies of the Holy Quran and the elderly people and it struck my mind that they are all Muslims. I returned without carrying out the suicide mission."
Usman said he was handed over to another commander Jan Wali, alias Sheena, in Sewai area after he returned without fulfilling the mission. According to the boy, he was again subjected to severe physical punishment. It was from Sewai area that he managed to escape one day and reach his home in Khar. Usman said Taliban continued to visit his house which forced him to come to Mardan and live with his aunt there. Remaining with his aunt for a few days, he said he returned home in Khar. But, by that time, the security forces were informed about his absence from the area and his return, and they picked him from the house.
The intelligence officials who arrested Usman told TNS that he was known as Fidayee in the area. They believed he was trained and sent into Khar to be used against a target at a particular time. However, the boy said he escaped from the Taliban captivity.
Asked if there were foreigners in the training facility, Usman said all were locals. He said he wants to go to school and become a soldier. During his talks, Usman did not oppose girls’ education. He was in his senses and said girls’ education was necessary because they will be doctors in future "to treat our mothers and sisters."
He was happy with the treatment given to him by the security officials during his captivity. However, no psychological treatment has been given to him by a specialist so far. When asked, the people looking after him said it was a decision of their seniors.
Ikramullah, another boy of the same age, son of Sardar Bacha, who is a Hafiz-e-Quran and hails from Munda tehsil of Dir Lower, was also in the custody of the security forces on charges of getting training with Taliban.
He said he got his education at a seminary in Peshawar. However, he was not ready to talk because he was presented blindfolded to this scribe and was insisting that he would talk only when his eyes are opened.
The security officials said he was not behaving normally. "Sometimes he says one thing while at another time he says different things," they added. When asked about the education of girls, he said he could not say anything something about that. He also refused to say anything about the Americans in Afghanistan. However, he added that Jihad against Americans "must be done".
He said he would become a prayer leader at a mosque if released by the security forces. The two boys, who have been with the security forces for several months, need proper psychological treatment, which is not available at the moment.