In a new statement, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban's shadow government) has criticized media reports that the Taliban use young children for martyrdom operations.
The September 2 statement, which denies the use of children by the Taliban, comes in the wake of the Karzai government releasing a number of children who were allegedly recruited for martyrdom operations. It also said that the Taliban are not facing a shortage of manpower.
The Taliban statement, which says that the Taliban's Code of Conduct forbids the recruitment of children, observes that young children are not capable of carrying out the military operations undertaken by the Taliban.
Following is the text of the statement:
