Infidels Paradise

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A 12-year-old boy caught in the act as he placed a homemade bomb under a road in the volatile Zhari District on Friday grabbed a baby as a human shield to protect himself from attack from the U.S. helicopter that had spotted him.

The incident, in an area where U.S. forces operate under Canadian command, appears to be part of an ominous and growing Taliban strategy to use youngsters to act as lookouts, carry out attacks or as human shields, because they know that NATO rules of engagement make troops extremely reluctant to open fire in such situations.

There have been 29 incidents in which children have helped carry out attacks or otherwise abetted the Taliban in Afghanistan’s four southern provinces since March, according to a document provided by the Canadian military this weekend. In a sign that the trend may be accelerating, eight of the incidents have taken place this month.

Among them were three separate explosions in Kandahar in the past few weeks in which as many as 12 Afghan children were blown up as they were being taught how to make or place improvised explosive devices in what one Canadian officer described as an “IED training camp.”

Such weapons have been, by far, the greatest killer of Canadian and coalition troops in Afghanistan.

“The question is how many other kids passed their IED tests?” said Maj. Robert Dunn of Ottawa, who oversees current operations in southern and western Kandahar. “The Taliban are obviously manipulating children and using them as cannon fodder.

“There is one place west of Kandahar City where they shoot at us every day through a shield of children. They actually stack them up, with eight-year-olds at the front and 15-year-olds at the back.”

Many of the incidents involving children have taken place in Zhari, where U.S. troops who are part of Canada’s battle group have been stationed since this summer, and in Panjwaii, which is still patrolled by Canadians.

“There is an insurgent commander in Zhari known to employ kids,” Dunn said. “If they are detected it puts us in a difficult situation. If there are civilian casualties, they use it against us. . . . You have to understand the fight that we are in. It isn’t easy. Our soldiers have to deal with this every day.”

In Friday’s incident in Zhari, a platoon from the U.S. army’s 1st battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, which is part of Canada’s brigade in Kandahar, was “spun up to respond” after helicopters “buzzed” the boy as he was engaged in suspicious activity, said Sgt. 1st Class Deron Timmerman of Fort Riley, Kan.

“They must have spooked him because he ran into something like a Bedouin encampment out in the desert and came out holding up an infant out of fear of being engaged by the helicopters. They stayed on location and walked us on to his position. Even though he was very young, the call was made to take him in because the Taliban doesn’t have an age limit.”

However, the boy was released into the custody of his parents a short time later because he was so young.

“This is definitely a trend we are seeing,” Timmerman said of coming upon child insurgents. “I’ve noticed it and seen it before. We are trained to the point where we are not going to engage an infant or a young child.”

Taliban recruitment tactics were similar to those used by gangs in other parts of the world, Dunn said.

“The 12 to 14 year olds often talk on the radio or use binoculars to watch what we are doing,” the major said. “Between 14 and 16 they are employed to place IEDs or to do reconnaissance using motorcycles to prove our lines. By the time they are 17 or 18, they are platoon commanders.

“For the most part these are Afghan kids, but not exclusively. Some are from Pakistan. They indoctrinate kids and propagandize their lives on a daily basis. What is neat about it for kids from families without any money is that they get to ride motorcycles.”

In one instance, a 15-year-old boy who was planting an IED was watched by his four-year-old brother, Dunn said, calling this “the start of the Taliban culture.”

The best way to prevent youngsters from being seduced by the Taliban is to offer them and their parents employment, he said, citing the much calmer security situation in Dand District, where Canada has recently created work for several hundred locals in several “model villages.”