Pakistan Conflict Monitor

Govt Attempts to Rehabilitate "Would-Be Suicide Bombers"

Pakistan Attempts Rehabilitation of Would-Be Suicide Bombers, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 28 July 2010

EXCERPT: "As suicide bombings have become a common tactic of terrorist groups in Pakistan, the authorities are now trying to rehabilitate would-be attackers, RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal reports. A suicide bomber who killed eight people on July 26 outside the home of a provincial minister near Peshawar is representative of the suicide bomber demographic -- like the vast majority, he was a juvenile male. Mohammad Farooq Khan is a doctor at a rehabilitation center in the northern Swat district for would-be bombers. His facility is one of two in Pakistan where a total of some 175 young people are being 'treated.' Farooq Khan told Radio Mashaal that the parents of most of the patients at the center had sent their children to strict madrasahs or to Islamic fundamentalist organizations to be educated. The parents later realized that their children were being turned into extremists. Farooq Khan said many of the boys grew up without their fathers, who were usually working abroad or in other parts of Pakistan."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
In Afghanistan, no shortage of suicide bombers, NPR, 28 July 2010
What goes into the making of a suicide bomber, The Express Tribune, 20 July 2010

Related posts:
Beyond madrasas: Assessing the links between education and militancy in Pakistan, 23 June 2010
Poor health facilities exacerbate bomb tolls, 6 January 2010
Taliban brainwashing kids into killers: Military, 5 January 2010
Suicide bombers cause torment for Pakistani children, 17 November 2009
Lack of basic education fuels rise in Taliban, extremism, 9 November 2009

Red Cross Hospital Treats Taliban and Children

Patched Up in Pakistan: Red Cross Hospital Treats Taliban and Children, Spiegel Online, 30 June 2010

EXCERPT: "A Red Cross field hospital in Peshawar specializes in treating victims of the armed conflicts in northwest Pakistan and Afghanistan. The doctors don't ask which side their patients are on. For them, they are all victims. [...] Since April 2009, the ICRC has been running the field hospital, which was set up to treat victims of the ongoing conflict between government forces and armed groups in Pakistan's tribal areas and North West Frontier Province. White tents stand close together on a well-guarded property in the middle of Peshawar, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border with Afghanistan. Norway has donated the funding for the accommodation. Some 200 people work here, including 180 Pakistanis. Two surgical teams operate and carry out amputations every day in one of the tents, battling to save people's lives. The building next door, which has two brand new operating theaters, is almost finished. But there are just too many victims. Usually up to 12 new patients are admitted per day, but after military operations or attacks by insurgents sometimes 40 seriously injured people arrive at one time."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Red Cross defends helping Taliban [in Afghanistan] treat casualties, CNN, 27 May 2010
US to increase Pak civil, military aid: Holbrooke, The News International, 20 June 2010

Related posts:
Relief agencies urge Pakistan army to agree to new aid rules, 10 June 2010
Humanitarian access still a challenge: Expert, 14 May 2010
Returnees' situation dire amid volatile security situation, 3 May 2010
Pakistan among top ten humanitarian disasters: Report, 23 December 2009
Aid workers worried for civilians in war zone, 4 November 2009

Millions of Children Still at Risk in North-West: Report

Still at Risk: Internally Displaced Children's rights in North-West Pakistan, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, June 2010

EXCERPT: "Approximately two million children have fled their homes during the current emergency in north-west Pakistan. Starting in 2008 and continuing in mid-2010, fighting between Pakistan’s armed forces and militant groups has led to the internal displacement of more than 3.3 million people. The displacement has taken place amid continuing insecurity that has prevented humanitarian access to much of the affected region. While these two million children and their families received assistance from host communities, aid organisations, and internally displaced people (IDPs) themselves, displaced children nonetheless faced difficulties in accessing basic necessities and education, and remained vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. As many as two-thirds of these children have returned to home areas, but they and their families find themselves without basic services or substantial assistance."

Read the full report.

Related posts:
State of Pakistan's children worsening: Report, 4 June 2010
Instability and poverty place children at risk of sex work, 26 April 2010
Taliban brainwashing kids into killers: Military, 5 January 2010
Child, maternal health goals unlikely to be met: UN, 4 January 2010
The Taliban's war on schoolchildren, 4 December 2009

State of Pakistan's Children Worsening: Report

The Worsening State of Pakistan’s Children, The Express Tribune, 4 June 2010

EXCERPT: "'The State of Pakistan’s Children 2009', a first-of-its-kind report was launched at a ceremony organised by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) on Thursday. Addressing the ceremony, Director Save the Children Sweden Syed Mehmood Asghar, said that every year Pakistan gets funds from international agencies to stop child trafficking. [...] The report says that in Pakistan every year 400,000 children under the age of five die, of which 300,000 are in the first year of their life, due to various diseases. Increasing poverty is forcing children to work.  A large number of children are denied access to education, health, safety and security, and are victims of terrorism, internal conflict and displacement. [...] In Swat, due to the conflict with militants, up to 600,000 children are reported to have missed up to a year of school. The total estimated cost of the damage caused to the education sector in the five districts of Buner, Upper and Lower Dir, Shangla, and Swat as well as the two tribal agencies of Bajaur and Mohmand in Fata is estimated to be Rs 3.04 billion."

Read the full story.
Read the press release.

Related articles:
School project benefits Afghan refugees and hosts in Balochistan, AlertNet, 3 June 2010
Pakistan children face threat to education: UN, AFP, 30 July 2009
Children from conflict hit areas in Pakistan urgently need life-saving health services, UNICEF, 16 July 2009

Related posts:
Taliban threaten girls' schools in Balochistan, 19 May 2010
Education in chaos in northern conflict zone, 21 April 2010
School attempts to reform child-fighters, counter Taliban influence, 29 March 2010
Huge increase in school attacks: Report, 16 February 2010
The Taliban's war on schoolchildren, 4 December 2009

Training Suicide Bombers: Profile of Qari Hussain Mehsud

The Pakistani Taliban's Suicide Bomber Trainer: A Profile of Qari Hussain Mehsud, Critical Threats, 25 May 2010

EXCERPT: "Qari Hussain Mehsud (typically referred to as Qari Hussain) built his ruthless image around one activity—the training and indoctrination of suicide bombers. As a senior commander in the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hussain is in a position to organize and indoctrinate aspiring militants in suicide missions. He takes pride in recruiting individuals to carry out destructive operations that focus on what he views as enemy forces, including Pakistani and Western targets. Until recently, Hussain’s operations have primarily been confined to Pakistan, but a video originally released on May 1 claims Qari Hussain and the TTP are responsible for the attempted bombing in Times Square on that same day. [...] The camps under Hussain’s command were notorious for making men of all ages, but more commonly children, into suicide bombers. Major General Tariq Khan, who led Operation Zalzala, said the camp in Spinkai Ragzai was 'like a factory that had been recruiting nine to twelve-year-old boys, and turning them into suicide bombers.' [...] Qari Hussain detailed his justification for recruiting suicide bombers throughout the course of an interview with a reporter from the Pakistani newspaper Jang. Qari’s grievances start with the United States and its allies. Hussain sees non-Muslim countries, especially US and western forces, as occupying Muslim territory, including Afghanistan."

Read the full report.

Related media:
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy: Inside a school for suicide bombers [video], TED Talks, May 2010

Related posts:
In-depth look into a suicide bomber training camp in Waziristan, 31 March 2010
Taliban "ready to unleash 3,000 suicide bombers", 9 March 2010
School attempts to reform child-fighters, counter Taliban influence, 29 March 2010
Pakistani village fights Taliban grip on its youth, 18 January 2010
Taliban brainwashing kids into killers: Military, 5 January 2010

Taliban Threaten Girls' Schools in Balochistan

"Follow Islamic Dress Code or Else…", The Express Tribune, 16 May 2010

EXCERPT: "Suspected militants have threatened several girls schools in Quetta to follow 'proper Islamic dress code' or else they will be attacked. The threat was issued in letters sent to several girls school in the provincial capital. The letter warned teachers and administrators of dire consequences if they ignored the letter. It claimed that informers of militants were present among students and teachers in all schools of the province. A Baloch insurgency and sectarian clashes have claimed hundreds of lives over the past three years in the province. But threats to girls schools have been uncommon in the province, especially in Quetta."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
SHO among six wounded in Quetta blast, DAWN, 19 May 2010
Five injured in hand grenade explosion in SW Pakistan's Quetta city, China View, 16 May 2010
TTP warns Balochistan schools against allowing students to wear "western" clothes, Thaindian, 15 May 2010
5 schools shut down in Quetta, The Nation, 15 May 2010
Assassination spike threatens new Pakistan flashpoint, SifyNews, 2 May 2010

Related posts:
Education in chaos in northern conflict zone, 21 April 2010
Quetta: Between four regions and two conflicts, 4 March 2010
Huge increase in school attacks: Report, 16 February 2010
The Quetta Shura Taliban in southern Afghanistan, 12 January 2010
The Taliban's war on schoolchildren, 4 December 2009

Easy Access to "Jihadist Material" Aids Youth Radicalization

Educated and Radical: Why Pakistan Produces Faisal Shahzads, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 May 2010

EXCERPT: "What turns the affluent and educated offspring of the Pakistani middle-classes – young people such as Faisal Shahzad – toward militancy? That’s a question some Pakistani analysts are mulling following the arrest last week of the accused Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad. If found guilty, he would add to a string of high-profile college-educated terrorists of Pakistani origin, including 'Lady Al Qaeda' Aafia Siddiqui and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. While the United States and the international community attempt to combat religious extremism through economic development, such as a recent American aid package to Pakistan pledging $7.5 billion of nonmilitary aid over 5 years, some argue that fighting poverty and illiteracy are not enough. Instead cultural factors, such as a virulently anti-American media, 'toxic' syllabi at public schools, and the general availability of jihadist material may have become dangers as well."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
New face of terror: Radicalised in the US, trained in Pakistan, Hindustan Times, 12 May 2010
The making of a terrorist, The New York Times // Opinionator, 11 May 2010
Islamist radicalization a growing trend in Germany, says expert, Deutsche-Welle, 11 May 2010
Western youths keen to join "jihad" after failed Times Square bombing: Taliban, Hindustan Times, 10 May 2010
For Westerners, it's not easy to join the Taliban, The Associated Press via MSNBC, 15 December 2009

Related posts:
Religion, politics and governance in Pakistan, 23 February 2010
Pakistan likely to become more Islamist, anti-US: Report, 12 January 2010
Hardline Pakistani schools a draw for foreigners, 14 December 2009
Arrests show growing internationalism of Pakistani militant groups, 10 December 2009
Pakistan's new generation of terrorists, 5 November 2009
Education system and links to extremism, 3 November 2009

Anti-polio Campaign in N. Waziristan Halted Due to Security Situation

Anti-Polio Campaign Put Off in North Waziristan, The News International, 27 April 2010

EXCERPT: "The government on Monday postponed the three-day anti-polio campaign in the volatile North Waziristan due to continuous curfew and tense situation in the region. Officials of the health department at the Fata Secretariat said 150,000 kids would not get anti-polio vaccines in Waziristan.The authorities had made arrangements for the campaign in Waziristan, which was supposed to be launched today. Tribespeople in North Waziristan were already critical of the poor performance of the health department staff and polio teams in the area. 'They rent several vehicles before launch of the campaign and hire people for the job but never reach the children living just outside Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan,' complained a tribesman, Haji Ashraf Dawar, based in Danday Darpakhel village on Miramshah-Ghulam Khan road. He claimed that there were several polio cases in North Waziristan but officials of health department as well as polio team were hiding them from the media."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Pakistan launches anti-polio campaign, China View, 27 April 2010
Polio threat to Pakistani children, BBC News, 11 July 2009
Polio cases jump in Pakistan as clerics declare vaccination an American plot, The Guardian, 15 February 2007

Related posts:
Taliban ambush kills 8 troops in North Waziristan, 23 April 2010
In North Waziristan, Taliban roams free, 22 April 2010
Child, maternal health goals unlikely to be met: UN, 4 January 2010
Pakistan lagging behind in achieving child health goals, 23 November 2009

Instability and Poverty Place Children at Risk of Sex Work

Sold into Sex Work, IRIN News, 25 April 2010

EXCERPT: "[...] There are reports that rising poverty is forcing a growing number of families to sell children, with girls in particular ending up in sex work. 'We have more and more reports of people selling their children due to poverty,' I.A. Rehman, secretary-general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), told IRIN. Boys were sometimes trafficked outside the country, and girls were generally sold into the sex trade, he said. According to HRCP, growing unemployment is a big factor contributing to poverty. According to independent estimates, the unemployment rate is 15.2 percent. Poverty levels have remained persistently high in Pakistan. According to a study completed in February 2010 by economists at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, every second household in the districts of the southern Punjab, comprising 17.49 million people, lives in absolute poverty. The fact that many wage earners have lower skill levels, due to a lack of education, is cited as a key factor in this. 'For households in the north [of Punjab Province], 14.26 percent of their income comes from remittances, which explains their comparative affluence; it is 4.4 percent in the centre [of the province], 2.14 percent in the south and 3.03 percent in the west,' the study says. Punjab is by far the most populous of Pakistan's four provinces. 'Pakistan's economy has been in recession for some years. Because of political instability and terrorism there is no investment and no growth. This means fewer jobs and other related issues,' economic analyst Sikander Lodhi told IRIN. He also said prices of many items, including food, had risen in response to rising fuel costs."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
Sex work a dangerous game, IRIN News via Reuters, 6 January 2009
Children at risk [op-ed], Daily Times, 12 December 2006
Lahore's street children find alternatives at UNICEF-supported centre, UNICEF, 9 November 2006

Related reports:
Global report on the status of action against commercial sexual exploitation of children [pdf], ECPAT International, 2006

Related posts:
Child, maternal health goals unlikely to be met: UN, 4 January 2010
Pakistan lagging behind in achieving child health goals, 23 November 2009

IDP Malnutrition Strikes First Along Gender Lines

Last in Line for Food, IRIN News, 5 April 2010

EXCERPT: "'We girls and our mothers eat last, after my four brothers, cousin and our fathers have finished. Sometimes there is almost nothing left to eat - but we are used to this,' Nasreena Bibi, 12, from northwestern Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal agency, told IRIN. Her family has been based since early 2009 with an uncle in the town of Kohat, in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), after fleeing clashes between the army and Taliban militants. Nasreena and her mother help her aunt cook for the 14 people living in the four-room house. But, like the other girls and women, she only eats a tiny fraction of what she prepares. 'The pattern is common in many homes. Women and girls get less to eat, as they are considered to need less food than men,' said Aisha Bibi, 40, a female health worker. 'We try to educate people about the risks if expecting mothers, or girls who will one day become mothers, do not get enough to eat.' Some 12 percent of children screened in displaced families, and their hosts, suffer moderate or acute malnutrition, with girls making up 58 percent of those affected, according to a 2 April humanitarian update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Health worker Bibi said the 'strained food situation' in the homes of hosts supporting internally displaced persons (IDPs) for many months could be adding to nutritional problems."

Read the full story.

Related reports:
Determinants of food security in rural areas in Pakistan, Munich Personal RePEc Archive, 16 February 2009
Women's status and children's food security in Pakistan, United Nations University // World Institute for Development Economics Research, June 2006
The importance of women's status for child nutrition in development countries, International Food Policy Research Institute via the Human Security Gateway, 1 January 2004

Related posts:
UN relies on local mills to combat hunger, 18 March 2010
"Anti-terrorist" fertilizer ban hinders farmers, 2 February 2010