Taliban in Pakistan Release Alleged Schoolboy Spies
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Taliban militants released unharmed a group of Pakistani schoolboys Thursday that were abducted on suspicion of spying for anti-militant security forces, Reuters reported.
Pakistan police said approximately 12 children, aged 8 to 11, had been kidnapped outside their Swat valley school on Tuesday. Police had been negotiating with their captors for their release, Reuters reported.
On Thursday, Swat police chief Dilawar Bangash told Reuters the boys were actually between 15 and 19, and had all been released.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Our earlier information was based on reports from sources and people in the area," Bangash told Reuters. "Now we have confirmed reports that they were seven in number, all teenagers, and all have been returned to their homes."
A Taliban spokesman, Muslim Khan, said the teens had been let go after confirmation that they were not spies. In the past militants have kidnapped and executed suspected spies. They have also tried to recruit schoolchildren, Reuters reported.