Following are excerpts from a report on Pakistani children kidnapped by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which aired on Al-Jazeera on September 8, 2011.
Reporter: "In an attempt to stress their power and demands, Taliban militants have resorted to a new strategy, as a means to exert pressure on the Pakistani and Afghan governments. A special unit of Taliban-Pakistan kidnapped a group of children from the town of Bajaur on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and transferred them to an unknown location along the border.
"The unit's commander appears here for the first time, in order to explain the reasons for this measure, and to outline their demands in return for the kidnapped boys."
Unit commander Maluvi Dadallah: "We have captured a group of children, and we will release them when our demands are met. The local government in Bajaur has arrested hundreds of our men, women, and children, leaving them to fall prey to many illnesses. We demand that the government release all the detainees. Otherwise, we will continue these operations."
Reporter: "In order to show that the prisoners are well, the Taliban has permitted them to talk to a media outlet for the first time, in order to show the Bajaur locals that they have no dispute with them, and in order to pressure the Pakistani and Afghan governments to give in to their demands."
Kidnapped boy Abdallah Khan: "We are well. The Taliban members have taken us to an unknown location, and we do not know the reason for this." […]
