Pakistani Militants Using Children In Bombings

Pakistani police have arrested 11 children accused of being involving in bombing attacks on behalf of a militant group, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.

Dawn identified the age range of the boys as 11 to 18. CNN reports, however, that some of the children are as young as 8.

According to police spokesman Zubair Mehmood, the United Baloch Army, a separatist group, paid the children between 2000 and 5000 rupees to drop off bombs in Quetta on January 10th.

The AFP reported that some of the children did not know what was in the packages they were delivering.

"They said they were happy they would get a small amount of money for dropping the packets," Mehmood said, according to the AFP. The children come from poorer families, the news service added.

The January attack left 11 people dead, including a child, and countless others injured. The day was a bloody one for Pakistan, where other bombings in the area brought the total death count to over 100 people.

Militants groups often pray on children from disadvantaged families. According to Amnesty International, there are over 250,000 soldiers worldwide who are under the age of 18. They are either captured by militants or brought in by their families. The majority are boys, but around 40% are girls. In 2011, CNN reported that a 9-year-old Pakistani girl was kidnapped and almost forced to be a suicide bomber.