According to Jamil, the mullah (clergyman) influenced his views to the extent that they decided to embark on this dangerous path. The minor was brainwashed to believe the security forces are ‘infidels who serve their American lords’.
Jamil said one day the clergyman told him to deliver a rifle to some men on motorcycles who then killed several government employees, and returned the rifle to Jamil. He said he felt content and one step closer to heaven. It was not long before the security forces stormed the madrasa (religious school) and captured Jamil, his friends and their tutor. The court sentenced the minors to the JCC.
Jamil said when he came to the JCC he realized he was wrong, and the government employees ‘are not infidels’, in fact they are kind and humane.
Jamil’s father is a disabled person surviving on government aid. His father was unaware of the teaching in the madrasa.
Naik Mohammad Ahmadi, director at the provincial directorate of justice, said one third of the detainees at the JCC are those who plotted against the security forces. “There are foreign doctors and psychologists to help the minors at the center”, explained Ahmadi.
Salima Ahad, deputy director for minors’ affairs at the provincial chapter of the Independent Human Rights Commission (IHRC), considers the brainwashing of the children as a grave problem. She said most of these children hail from poor families who worked for insurgents just for money.
Many unregistered madrasas have been serving as training centers for the Taliban. Mujib Mehrdad, spokesman for Ministry of Education, has said the Ministry has registered at least 1 thousand madrasas so far.
Meanwhile, Zabiullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, previously in a conversation with the Salam Watandar denied the presence of minors in the ranks of Taliban. He had said according to the Taliban’s military code of conduct, no one has the right to use children for military purposes.
ENDS
