Pakistan schoolgirl forced to wear explosives

A nine-year-old girl who was kidnapped on her way to school and forced to wear a suicide bomb vest managed to escape her captors Monday as they directed her to attack a paramilitary checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, both she and police officials said.

Sohana Jawed, dressed in a blue and white school uniform, recounted her ordeal during a news conference with police in Lower Dir district. Militants in Pakistan have often used young boys to carry out attacks, but the use of young girls is rare.

Police in Peshawar said they are still trying to confirm her story.

One of the kidnappers put a handkerchief on her mouth that knocked her unconscious, Jawed said in an interview with a local TV station.

When she woke up and started crying, one of the women gave her cookies laced with something that again knocked her out, Jawed said. The next time she woke up she found herself in a strange home, she said.

"This morning, the women and men forced me to put on the heavy jacket and put me in the car again," said Jawed.

The suicide vest contained almost nine kilograms of explosives and seemed to be designed to be set off remotely, Lower Dir police chief Salim Marwat told The Associated Press.

"Most likely it had to be detonated through a remote control since a minor was wearing it," he said.

Sprinted toward soldiers

The kidnappers brought her to a checkpoint run by the paramilitary Frontier Corps located about 10 kilometres outside Timergarah, the main town in Lower Dir district. When they got out of the car, she sprinted toward the paramilitary soldiers to show them what she was wearing, said Marwat.

"I got the chance to release my hand from the woman and run," said Jawed.

By the time the paramilitary soldiers realized what was happening, the kidnappers had escaped, said Marwat. Police have launched a search operation to find them, he said.

It's unclear why the kidnappers didn't detonate the suicide bomb vest after Jawed ran away. Marwat suggested they may have simply panicked and fled.

Asif Khan, the police chief in the area of Peshawar where Jawed said she lived and was kidnapped, Hashtnagri, said they haven't received a complaint of a missing girl and haven't identified a resident with her name.

Police in Lower Dir plan to ask Jawed additional questions after she is examined by a psychiatrist, who is helping her cope with the trauma of her ordeal.

"Police will try to get more information from her once she gets normalized," said Marwat.