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KABUL, Afghanistan — ISAF and Afghan forces have recently observed militants using infants as human shields during hostile acts against Afghan and international forces operating throughout Afghanistan.
During an operation Feb. 12 in Farah province, a combined Afghan-international force attempted to arrest a Taliban commander. During the operation, the militant commander exited a compound surrounded by women and children and was carrying an infant. Repeated demands by Afghan members of the combined force to put the infant down were ignored and his response to repeated warnings was to hold the infant between him and members of the combined force. The man was eventually arrested and the infant returned unharmed to its mother.
In a separate Feb. 12 operation also in Farah, an individual was observed on top of a nearby compound using a radio to report on the combined force's movement and activity. After spotting the joint force closing in, he went into the compound and returned to the roof carrying an infant. He continued to use the radio to report on the force's movement for the rest of the operation with the infant at his side.
On Feb. 17 in Helmand's Washir district, two suspected militants fled from a vehicle into a nearby compound. After the compound was surrounded, one of the men emerged holding an infant in front of him. He repeatedly moved the child so that it was between him and the combined force. The man was eventually arrested and the child returned unharmed to its mother.
"The Taliban's actions that endanger civilians, especially children, show complete disregard for the people of Afghanistan," said ISAF Joint Command Deputy Chief of Staff for Joint Operations Maj. Gen. Michael Regner.
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2010 03:34 |
| Story ID: | 46179 |
| Location: | KABUL, AF |
| Web Views: | 842 |
| Downloads: | 651 |
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