Taliban rebuild children's suicide camp in South Waziristan

UNCLASSIFIED

The Taliban have rebuilt a camp in South Waziristan that trains children
to be suicide bombers, a video from Pakistan shows. Children as young as
seven years old are indoctrinated to wage jihad in Pakistan and
Afghanistan.

The video, obtained by AfPax Insider, was shot in August in Spinkai
Ragzai, South Waziristan, a tribal area run by Pakistani Taliban leader
Baitullah Mehsud. The Taliban are seen "training dozens of boys ranging
in age from seven to 14," the news service reported. "The video attempts
to justify suicide bombings as a legitimate means of attack against
"infidels.'"

While not explicitly stated in the AfPax Insider report, the camp is run
by Qari Hussain, a senior lieutenant to Baitullah who has close links to
al Qaeda. Hussain has rebuilt his child training camp after the
Pakistani military demolished his suicide nursery during a short
offensive in Spinkai in January 2008.

In May, a senior Pakistani general described the previous camp as a
"factory." The military seized numerous documents and training materials
in the demolished camp.

"It was like a factory that had been recruiting nine to 12-year-old
boys, and turning them into suicide bombers," said Major General Tariq
Khan, the commander of Pakistan's 14 Division, which led the operation
in South Waziristan.

"The computers, other equipment and literature seized from the place ...
give graphic details of the training process in this so-called
'nursery,'" Dawn reported in May. "There are videos of young boys
carrying out executions, a classroom where 10- to 12-year olds are
sitting in formations, with white band of Quranic verses wrapped around
their forehead, and there are training videos to show how improvised
explosive devices are made and detonated."

The Pakistani military launched the operation in South Waziristan on
Jan. 24 after Taliban forces commanded by Baitullah overran two military
outposts and conducted attacks against other forts and military convoys
in the tribal agency.

The Pakistani military reported that Hussain was killed in January after
intercepting Taliban communications. The military later reiterated that
claim during the tour of the Spinkai camp on May 18.

Hussain held a press conference at a government school building in South
Waziristan five days later. During the interview,he mocked the reports
of his death. "I am alive, don't you see me?" Hussain said.

Hussain is believe to be in the running to succeed Baitullah Mehsud in
the event of his death. Baitullah is suffering from complications
related to kidney disease and was rumored to have died last week.
Baitullah was later seen visiting villagers to celebrate Eid in towns
throughout South Waziristan.

The Spinkai camp is one of 157 training camps and more than 400 support
locations in the Taliban-controled tribal areas and in the Northwest
Frontier Province.