Taliban recruiting teenagers for its 'martyrdom missions'

London, May 31 (ANI): Ever since the Pakistan Army began its offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley and Malakand Division of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the outlawed outfit has been recruiting teenagers to volunteer what it call 'martyrdom missions.'

The Telegraph reports, that it has obtained propaganda films, which shows teenagers, aged between 14 to 15 years, recording their messages before embarking on their journey to martyrdom.

The video shows the young recruits climbing onto a vehicle laden with explosives before recording their farewell messages.

Part of the video shows a 15 year old boy named Arshad, encouraging young boys to join the force to fight for the sake of Allah.

"Some hypocrites say that we are doing this for money - or because of brainwashing - but we are told by Allah to target these pagans. I invite my fellows to sacrifice themselves," he said.

The two-minute clip has become the latest hit in a craze for jihadi videos that has swept Pakistan's north-west, the newspaper said.

The films also show ghastly 'trials' and beheadings of alleged spies and captured policemen, and whippings of criminals.

Recently, security forces had arrested a young Taliban operative from the Mata tehsil region of the Swat Valley, who also disclosed that the outlawed unit is recruiting teenagers in large numbers to fight against the military in the ongoing operation in the Valley.

"They said you will have to fight against the army and threatened to kill me if I did not join them and got training," he said.

The man arrested by the army claimed that he was a student of a seminary from where the Taliban forcibly took him and asked him to join them for fighting against the military.

He said that over 150 recruits were being trained in the camp from where he was arrested, and was later destroyed by the security forces. (ANI)