On October 29, 2009, the Pakistani independent television channel GEO aired a special episode of its popular current affairs program Jirga ("meeting") that traced the background of the Taliban militants and analyzed their current strength.
Aired against the backdrop of the Pakistan army's anti-Taliban operation, which began October 17, 2009 in the tribal district of South Waziristan, the program notes that Chinese, Uzbek and Arab children are receiving military training in the tribal region on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The program also shows the "training at this time of suicide bombers," though the exact timing of the footage cannot be ascertained.
Following are some excerpts from the television program, as translated from the Urdu original:[1]
"The Most Severe Challenge Being Confronted by Pakistan is the Taliban Movement"
Anchor Salim Safi: "The most severe challenge being confronted by Pakistan is the Taliban movement or Talibanization, but the problem is that everyone has established his own philosophy about the Taliban. In this jirga, we are trying to inform you of facts about the Taliban. We are always trying to invite those guests to this program who know the Taliban closely.
"My first guest is a person who used to have close contacts with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the past. He is respected in both jihadi and religious circles. He also worked as an advisor to the government during the General Pervez Musharraf regime, and closely knows Pakistani establishment and government circles. You must have recognized my first guest, who is Hafiz Muhammad Tahir...
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