Key Points:
- Terror handlers are using social media to radicalise children through targeted propaganda
- A minor girl from Balochistan was lured into a terrorist plot but rescued before deployment
- Police and intelligence stress family support, awareness, and timely intervention
ISLAMABAD: Sindh Interior Minister said in a press conference on Monday that social media has become one of the most dangerous weapons used by terrorist networks to target and exploit innocent children.
Provincial minister, Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, after his opening statement, presented to the media said the case of a minor girl from Balochistan who was entraped by the terrorists to brainwash her into a suicide attacker. The luck was on her side, and the Karachi Police apprehended her in a general round-up just when she was trying to reach one of her handlers.
During the Minister’s press conference, the Additional IG CTD, Karachi, Azad Khan, gave the media a detailed briefing on the case of an innocent girl falling prey to the terrorists’ net through social media, how she was apprehended, and miltiple debriefings led to the truth.
The girl, a student enrolled in a regular school, became vulnerable after the death of her father. Terror handlers exploited her emotional fragility under the guise of sympathy and support. Initially exposed to provocative content on TikTok and Instagram, the minor’s exposure escalated into targeted propaganda that promoted hatred and anti-state narratives.
The Additional IG CTD explained that a recruiter linked with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) contacted the girl via Instagram, sharing curated links, speeches, and extremist material. Over time, conversations were directed toward hostility against Pakistan and its institutions.
According to the briefing, the handler offered emotional support to earn the girl’s trust and added her to a closed WhatsApp group where terrorist activities were glorified and anti-state sentiment reinforced.
The indoctrination progressed toward a possible self-harm attack. Under the guise of manipulation and deception, the girl left her home, claiming to be going to school, and travelled to Karachi. Near the city, a female operative met her to continue grooming her and planned to hand her over to another handler.
The plot was uncovered when routine police verification at a checkpoint raised suspicions, leading to her safe custody. Women officers escorted the girl to a police station, where a step-by-step debriefing revealed how she was manipulated.
Authorities immediately contacted her family, and the girl was reunited with her mother under protective arrangements. The family’s identity remains confidential to safeguard her future.
The Sindh Interior Minister emphasised that the girl and her mother have agreed to share their story publicly to expose how terrorist networks exploit social media to target vulnerable children, in hopes of preventing similar incidents.
