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January 12, 2010 Special Dispatch No. 2747

The Taliban of Pakistan’s Swat District Releases Video Showing Children And Teenagers Training for Jihad And the "Lovers of Houris" (the Women of Paradise) Who Carried Out Martyrdom Missions

January 12, 2010
Pakistan | Special Dispatch No. 2747

In a new video released by the Taliban in Pakistan, the militants show children training for jihad as well as teenage "lovers of houris" - who have carried out martyrdom missions in recent months on targets in the Swat district of Pakistan. Produced by the Studio Fateh, the video has been released by the Swat district chapter of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban). In the Swat district of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Taliban militants are led by Commander Maulana Fazlullah and his father-in-law Maulana Sufi Muhammad, a radical cleric.

In early 2009, the Taliban launched a military campaign to enforce Islamic Shari'a in the Swat region, imposing a total ban on girls' education and advancing militarily from Swat to its neighboring districts. In response to international criticism the Pakistani military launched an operation against the group causing it to disperse. The video is fifth in a series released by the Swat Taliban.

In the video, the militants shoot dead people caught on alleged charges of spying for the Pakistani security forces and a man is shown hanged. No specific details are given about these incidents. It quotes several local people in the Swat district, criticizing the Pakistani Army for its operations against the Taliban. The footage shows bombings by the Pakistani military in Peochar, the erstwhile stronghold of Maulana Fazlullah in the Swat district.

The video contains the following cry, "Come for jihad, come for jihad, come for jihad." It shows children, who appear to be below 10 years of age, carrying replica missiles and grenades, marching in an unidentified street and climbing ropes as part of their training for jihad. It also shows destruction of buildings and images of children allegedly killed during counter-insurgency operations by the Pakistani military. ...

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