Militants in Pakistan force minor girl to wear suicide vest

Islamabad, Jun 20: An eight-year-old Pakistani girl was allegedly kidnapped by militants who forced her to wear a suicide vest to attack security forces in the country's northwest, police said today (Jun 20).

Suhana, a student of Class 3, said she was kidnapped from her hometown of Peshawar on Sunday by two women and a man.

"They asked me to come close to them and then they placed a handkerchief on my face and I fell unconscious," she told the media.

The girl said her abductors forced her to wear an explosive vest and then took her to a security check post in Balambat area of Lower Dir district.

"They asked me to get close to the soldiers and sent me towards the check post to carry out a suicide attack. I ran towards the check post and raised an alarm," Suhana said.

Lower Dir district police chief Saleem Marwat said security forces rescued the girl and removed the suicide vest she was wearing.

Police are yet to arrest Suhana's abductors, who fled in a car after dropping her near the check post.

Northwest Pakistan has witnessed scores of suicide attacks over the past four years. Hundreds of people have lost their lives in these attacks, most of which were carried out by the banned Pakistani Taliban.

PTI