Children Beings Used as Bombers By Pakistani Separatist Group

Kids as young as eight paid to drop off packages with bombs

(CNN) -- A separatist group fighting the Pakistani government for years has deployed a new weapon in its arsenal, police said: child bombers.

Police in the southwestern Balochistan province say they have arrested a group of children as young as 8 that the United Baloch Army has been using to carry out attacks.

"All the children belong to extremely poor and down-trodden families," officer Zubair Mehmood told a crowded news conference Wednesday.

The militant group paid them $25 to $50 to drop off packages carrying bombs with timers, he said.