Taliban Accused of Forced Conscription Of Young Males From Tribal Areas

And this would surprise who? :crickets: A Pakistani military official has, in essence, claimed that the Taliban have forced young males from family households in the tribal regions of NW Pakistan to join their fighting forces and if there is any refusal, the family's home is then destroyed. Here's some of the details from Breitbart:

Militants battling security forces in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan have forced families to give up sons to fight alongside Islamist extremists, a Pakistani military official said.

Insurgents had a stranglehold on Bajur prior to the offensive, officials said. The militants converted schools into Islamic courts, set up a traffic control system, and imposed taxes on the timber and marble industries, the region's two main industries.
On Friday, a Pakistani military commander accused insurgents of forced conscription.
"All families were asked to give their one male child to this (militant) movement, and this was done forcibly, and if somebody doesn't do it, his house would be destroyed," said Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan of the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

And while this is deplorable, this forcing of these young men to join the Taliban, it's all predictable in that the Taliban bring this to every location that they inhabit. They are like a plague of locusts - when they settle into a region, you see the kind of plague that settles upon that area just like they did when they contolled Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, they took all rights away from women, they shut down schools so that young people would not become educated, and they sapped any freedoms from the people. The Taliban state they are true followers of the Qur'an but in essence, they are all about control and keeping contol.

This is just one of the reasons why Pakistan has to keep up their efforts against the Taliban and has to come to some resolution with NATO forces in Afghanistan to finally wage a coordinated war on the Taliban with victory, wholesale victory, the final goal.

Official: Pakistan militants conscripted sons

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Militants battling security forces in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan have forced families to give up sons to fight alongside Islamist extremists, a Pakistani military official said.
Meanwhile, new violence in the region Saturday reportedly killed 16 insurgents.
Overall, more than 1,000 alleged militants have died since Pakistan launched a military offensive in the Bajur tribal area in early August, officials said. The effort has won praise from U.S. officials, who say al-Qaida and Taliban fighters involved in attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan use Bajur and neighboring tribal regions as a safe haven.
The offensive, which could last up to two more months, proceeds as Pakistan struggles with economic problems, power shortages, and violence throughout the country, including a massive attack that devastated the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad a week ago.
Insurgents had a stranglehold on Bajur prior to the offensive, officials said. The militants converted schools into Islamic courts, set up a traffic control system, and imposed taxes on the timber and marble industries, the region's two main industries.
On Friday, a Pakistani military commander accused insurgents of forced conscription.
"All families were asked to give their one male child to this (militant) movement, and this was done forcibly, and if somebody doesn't do it, his house would be destroyed," said Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan of the paramilitary Frontier Corps.
It is nearly impossible to independently confirm the details provided by Khan and others in the military. Journalists' access to Bajur is restricted, and the area is remote and dangerous. The government has traditionally had limited authority in the area, allowing tribes to wield tremendous influence, although that has suffered as militants have grown in power.
In a briefing to reporters visiting the region Friday on a special army-organized trip, Khan showed photos of militant tunnel systems and trenches and said Bajur had become a "center of gravity" for all sorts of insurgents from throughout the region.
Khan expressed "respect" for the militant fighters, saying they had good communications and command and control systems, as well as "top of the line" tactical understanding of the terrain.
"They are not people who are just picked up from the streets and haven't gone through any kind of formal training," Khan said. "I would have liked to have two or three of these people taken to our infantry school and teach some of our officers."
"My timeframe for Bajur is anything from between one and a half to two months to bring about stability," Khan added.