Author: Indo-Asian News Service
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: August 3, 2004
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_923550,0008.htm?headline=Army~grappling~with~'child~warriors'~in~J&K
The Indian Army claims to be confronting
a new problem along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir--teenaged
terrorists, some as young as 13 or 14, wielding sophisticated arms.
According to an Army spokesman,
Pakistan-based terrorist outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
and even the Hizb-ul- Mujahideen have started pushing in teenagers to the
Indian side.
The spokesman said in recent weeks,
the Army had apprehended nine such children armed with deadly weapons.
One of them was identified as 13-year-old
Mohammad Islam of Sihota in Pakistan, the spokesman said. The teenager
described to the army how he had been motivated for jehad and made to pick
up guns.
Islam said that no member of his
group was made aware of the hazards that they would have to face while
crossing the LoC. Nor were they told of the electrified fencing along the
LoC.
"There was no mention of that. We
were simply pushed to this side and asked to fight against the Indian Army,"
Islam is reported to have said.
The Army spokesman said the terrorist
outfits' move to send "child warriors" was an act of desperation, with
the top leadership of many groups having been wiped out.
Indian soldiers on the LoC now have
to tread cautiously. On spotting young boys, they have to try to hold their
fire. The soldiers' first attempt is to capture the children alive so they
can be reformed.