Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud has severed contacts with Swat Taliban chief Mulla Fazlullah for "unknown reasons", a 17-year-old boy who has left the ranks of the Taliban revealed on Friday, a private TV channel reported. The boy, seeking anonymity, told the channel that he had met Fazlullah three times and had quit the Taliban at his father's insistence.
He disclosed that about 12,000 Taliban, including 2,000 aged between 11 and 15 years, were being trained at a facility run by the Taliban in the mountains of Swat. He said most of the recruits belonged to poor families and had volunteered to fight for the Taliban. The boy claimed that the Taliban in Swat were 'receiving' weapons from Dir, Bajaur Agency and Afghanistan.