Suicide squad of boys and girls ready to strike in Pak: Taliban

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban has warned that boys and girls of its suicide squad will launch "massive" strikes across the country, including the commercial hub of Karachi, if military operation in Swat and other tribal areas are not halted immediately.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulvi Omar also said they had set up "modern anti-aircraft and missile systems" along the border with Afghanistan to avert any incursions by NATO forces and the Afghan National Army into Pakistan's tribal areas.

Omar said the Taliban had responded "positively to the government's peace overtures" but both the federal and the NWFP governments had failed to "meet their commitments".

He claimed the federal government was pursuing the policies of President Pervez Musharraf and trying to complete the "unfinished American agenda".

The warning issued by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan deputy chief Maulana Faqir Mohammad and Omar was the latest round in a war of words between the militants and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a key political player in Karachi.

Over the past few days, the MQM has urged the federal government not to ignore the local Taliban's efforts to establish a presence in Karachi. It has said any failure to counter the Taliban could have serious repercussions for trade and commerce in the southern port city.

Addressing a press conference yesterday at Anayat Kalley, eight km from headquarters of Bajaur Agency, the duo said a fidayeen squad, comprising boys and girls from 10 to 20 years of age, is ready to carry out attacks and target top government functionaries if the government does not immediately stop its operations against the Taliban in Swat and reverse its decision to launch action in other tribal areas.