The Taliban has always had a special hatred for schools, targeting them in Afghanistan. And of course, we all remember the Chechnya thing. So perhaps this should not come as a surprise, but it's disgusting nonetheless.
Militants kidnap 400 from school in Pakistan: police
Last Updated: Monday, June 1, 2009 | 11:20 AM ET The Associated Press
Suspected militants abducted 400 students, staff members and relatives on Monday as they were driving away from a school in a troubled tribal region in northwest Pakistan, police said.
Police official Meer Sardar said the mass abduction occurred about 30 kilometres from Razmak Cadet College in North Waziristan.
The people were leaving the school area after a phone call from a man they believed to be a political official warned them to get out.
A large group of suspected militants forced around 30 vehicles carrying the group to stop before leading them away.
Sardar said around 17 people in one vehicle managed to escape and report the incident to the police.
North Waziristan is a major Taliban stronghold.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
One wonders how long the Pakistanis will leave the fundie Madrassas open. Little point in shooting off the current crop of martyrs if the religoius "schools" just continue pumping out brainwashed fanatics with no marketable skills other that of Jihadist or bomb delivery system.
I thought Roman candles meant they were imported. - Kelly Bundy
12 yards long, two lanes wide it's 65 tons of American pride, Canyonero! - Simpsons
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I wonder if the Islamists will succeed in cowing the Pakistanis with "Submit to our authority, or we'll take away your children and [insert act of violence] them!" or if this scheme will backfire? We'll likely see some people kowtow while others express defiance and outright hatred towards the Taliban, but which group will have a majority?
Those gun nuts do not understand the meaning of "overkill," and will simply use weapon after weapon of mass destruction (WMD) until the monster is dead, or until they run out of weapons.
They have more WMD than there are monsters for us to fight. (More insanity here.)
It depends if the rest of Pakistan has the will to stand up to it. Russia spent close to 30 years fighting this kind of stuff inside and outside of its borders, but a massive population and conscription helped with that too.
I think the Pakistani gov't realises that it stands to lose everything if they don't react firmly to this. India will fuck them up if they this there's a risk of a radicalised Pakistan. America will fuck them up if they feel there's a risk of the Afghan conflict being extended or expanded by this continuing. And certain "Fellow Muslim Brothers" will fuck them up if they feel that they are being too moderate and responsible, by sending more guns, ammo and men to help out the Taliban.
Fortunately, it seems like a lot of people escaped. Still, 50 people is still a lot.
50 students, staff abducted by militants, Pakistan police say
* Story Highlights
* Militants seize 8 vehicles after ceremony on last day of school, police say
* 19 other vehicles drive away, police say; students are ages 9 to 22
* Incident happens in North Waziristan, where military has battled Taliban
* Abductions are latest in a string of attacks on civilians in northwest Pakistan
updated 1 hour, 32 minutes ago
* Next Article in World »
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Militants in a Taliban-held area of Pakistan are believed to have abducted 50 students and staff Monday after a ceremony marking the last day of school, a police official said.
Smoke billows from a fire at the site of a marketplace bomb in Peshawar, Pakistan, last week.
Smoke billows from a fire at the site of a marketplace bomb in Peshawar, Pakistan, last week.
The abduction took place in North Waziristan, located in Pakistan's tribal region, where the military has waged a bloody battle against Taliban insurgents, said Iqbal Marwat, a police official of Banu District in the North-West Frontier Province.
He said a convoy of 27 vehicles carrying 350 students and teachers departed Razmat Cadet College in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. When it reached Khawaja Khur, 30 to 35 heavily armed Taliban fighters stopped the convoy and abducted eight vehicles and their 50 occupants, he said.
Occupants of the other 19 vehicles drove away.
Khawaja Khur is in the Frontier Region of the province, adjacent to North Waziristan, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the city of Banu.
The students are between the ages of 9 and 22, Marwat said.
The reported abductions follow a series of attacks on civilians in northwest Pakistan.
Don't Miss
* Militants battle Pakistani troops in Waziristan
* Pakistan secures key Swat Valley city
* Pakistan tightens security after terror attacks
An explosion struck a bus station in the city of Kohat on Monday, killing two civilians and wounding 18, a police official said. Kohat is in North West Frontier Province, where a string of militant attacks in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan killed 12 people last week.
Militants also struck the Pakistani city of Lahore last week, killing 27 people in a suicide attack on a building housing police, intelligence, and emergency offices.
Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the Lahore bombing, and threatened to continue attacking cities in Pakistan until the military ends its operations against Taliban militants.
As a result, Pakistani authorities increased security in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital city.
The Pakistani military has been conducting a monthlong offensive against the Taliban, centered in the Swat region of North West Frontier Province.
Turns out that a five way cross over between It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the Ali G Show, Fargo, Idiocracy and Veep is a lot less funny when you're actually living in it.
I thought Roman candles meant they were imported. - Kelly Bundy
12 yards long, two lanes wide it's 65 tons of American pride, Canyonero! - Simpsons
Support the KKK environmental program - keep the Arctic white!
