14-Year-Old Suicide Bomber Captured After Vest Fails

Meanwhile another young teen blows up bus stop
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 4, 2011 9:53 AM CDT
14-Year-Old Captured After Failed Suicide Bombing in Pakistan
A Pakistani security official gets information from an injured suicide bomber at a shrine near Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan on Sunday, April 3, 2011.   (AP Photo/Saleem Raza)

Pakistani authorities have captured a 14-year-old who tried to blow himself up during a devastating attack on a Sufi shrine yesterday. Suicide bombers struck a pair of shrines in central Pakistan yesterday, killing 42 and wounding 100 of the thousands of people gathered for an annual festival near the city of Dera Ghazi Khan. The detained suspect, identified as Fida Hussain, allegedly tried to blow himself up at one of the shrines, the AP reports. When his vest failed to detonate, he threw a grenade, which blew off his own hand.

Police then shot Hussain in his other arm, bringing him down. He is being treated for his injuries today, but is unrepentant. "Let me go, I want to be a martyr," he cried as he was being carried away, according to police. "I want to send all you policemen to hell!" Using young boys as bombers is a disturbingly common practice for Islamic extremists. Another young teen blew himself up at a bus stop today, killing at least six, according to NPR. (More Fida Hussein stories.)

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