Every day we have to make decisions. But perhaps not the decision that 14-year-old Noor Mohammed had to make.
The boy suicide bomber who changed his mind
Every day we have to make decisions. But perhaps not the decision that 14-year-old Noor Mohammed had to make.
He was being held in a TalibanA violent fundamentalist Islamic movement that enforces sharia law and denies education to women. jail, away from his parents and friends, after being accused of stealing mobile phones at a wedding ceremony.
And then his captors gave him a choice. Either they would cut off his hands as punishment for stealing. Or he could redeem himself and bring honour to his family by becoming a suicide bomber.
Noor chose the latter and was soon being trained to fire a gun so he could kill the guards at the nearby American army base.
They also gave him a suicide vest that covered his upper body with explosives. Once inside the base, he was told he should touch the two loose wires together, killing himself and as many US and Afghan soldiers as possible.
After the Taliban had taken photos of this young martyr, he set off with his handlers towards the base. They left him to walk alone for the last few miles but instead he sat down and, in solitude, considered his position.
"It is a sin to kill yourself and others," he said to himself, and then took his second big decision: "I took off the vest and threw it away." He got up and continued with his journey towards the American base - but only to surrender.
The guards did not believe him at first, and he had to sleep outside the camp for a night to prove the truthfulness of his story. Then he led them to a Taliban house where soldiers found weapons and explosives. They believed Noor now.
The use of child bombers is a worrying trend in Afghanistan. "They are relying more and more on children," says Nader Nadery, from the country's Independent Human Rights Commission, who believes the Taliban are struggling to recruit enough adults. "When somebody runs out of one tool they go to use the second one."
Family rift
Noor Mohammed is now held in a juvenile detention centre in Kabul. Here he has found many other young suicide bombers, trained in radical madrassas (schools) to hate the Americans.
The centre attempts to re-educate the young jihadists, away from the idea of 'holy war' - but there is clearly some way to go. "When I told my cellmates I refused to do a suicide attack," says Noor, "none of them could understand why I didn't do it."
As for his own future, little is certain. But he knows that he'll never be able to go back to his village and, despite his youth, will probably never see his family again.
And aren't some of the bombers disabled? Yes, a 2007 study of the remains of 100 suicide bombers conducted by an Afghan pathologist found that 80% had some kind of physical or mental disability or a major illness, like cancer or leprosy. In Iraq, two women with Down's syndrome were used to carry out attacks in a crowded market in Baghdad.
Taliban - A violent fundamentalist Islamic movement that enforces sharia law and denies education to women.
The boy suicide bomber who changed his mind

Glossary
Taliban - A violent fundamentalist Islamic movement that enforces sharia law and denies education to women.