Jun 16, 2015

The killer kids of the 'caliphate': Shockingly young boys brainwashed to become the next generation of 'martyrs' at ISIS camp

Soldier: A shocking new video reveals how ISIS is transforming young boys into its next generation of killers
Soldier: A shocking new video reveals how ISIS is transforming young boys into its next generation of killers
Deadly: A young boy is made to load an assault rifle that is longer than he is tall, as a group of future jihadist soldiers watches on
Deadly: A young boy is made to load an assault rifle that is longer than he is tall, as a group of future jihadist soldiers watches on
Innocence lost: Youngsters who feature in the 14 minute-long video are made to recite Koranic verses before they undertake gruelling military exercises
Innocence lost: Youngsters who feature in the 14 minute-long video are made to recite Koranic verses before they undertake gruelling military exercises
Brainwashed: Armed with massive assault rifles (left) and rocket launchers (right), they stand proudly under the notorious black flag used by Islamist groups
Brainwashed: Armed with massive assault rifles (left) and rocket launchers (right), they stand proudly under the notorious black flag used by Islamist groups
Armed: A masked boy, dressed head-to-toe in camouflaged clothing, performs impressive military drills with a handgun 
Armed: A masked boy, dressed head-to-toe in camouflaged clothing, performs impressive military drills with a handgun 
Gruelling: The youngsters are made to crawl under barb wire (pictured) as part of their preparation for the battlefield
Gruelling: The youngsters are made to crawl under barb wire (pictured) as part of their preparation for the battlefield
Brainwashed: ISIS teaches these children into thinking like killers from an early age by 'taking over Islamic schools', a counter-terrorism expert told MailOnline
Brainwashed: ISIS teaches these children into thinking like killers from an early age by 'taking over Islamic schools', a counter-terrorism expert told MailOnline
They are also trained to fight for when the caliphate comes under attack, Steve Emerson from the Investigative Project on Terrorism said
They are also trained to fight for when the caliphate comes under attack, Steve Emerson from the Investigative Project on Terrorism said
The 14 minute-long video shows small boys - whose exact age is not known - reciting Koranic verses before they are forced to take part in gruelling military exercises.
They crawl under barbed wire and crawl through tiny tunnels before completing an array of military drills with assault rifles they can barely lift.
ISIS has reprogrammed their young and impressionable minds into those of killers by 'taking over Islamic schools as part of their entire take over of Islamic society,' according to the executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism.
Creating a conveyor belt of young jihadists is useful when they are trying to consolidate territory which is constantly under attack, Steve Emerson told MailOnline.
He added: 'Indoctrinating kids with ISIS fanaticism is not only the easiest population to indoctrinate but also produces new generations of ISIS believers and ultimately at some point fighters. This is the way you build a Caliphate.'
'Their goal is to rebuild the Islamic societies they have conquered into a global comprehensive Islamist system that...  takes over all aspects of society from garbage collection to teaching at the Madrassats [religious schools].' 
Fanatic: By turning young boys like this into loyal ISIS fanatics, the terror group is ensuring its continuity, a counter-terrorism expert said
Fanatic: By turning young boys like this into loyal ISIS fanatics, the terror group is ensuring its continuity, a counter-terrorism expert said
Defence: And by practising them in the arts of war and military drills (pictured), they are constantly creating new jihadist soldiers to defend their territory which is constantly under attack
Defence: And by practising them in the arts of war and military drills (pictured), they are constantly creating new jihadist soldiers to defend their territory which is constantly under attack
Drills: With their heads covered - and wearing identical uniforms - the boys train their sights on the backs of each others heads during a military drill
Drills: With their heads covered - and wearing identical uniforms - the boys train their sights on the backs of each others heads during a military drill
Ambush: They are also taught to attack from moving vehicles (pictured), which could be useful when attacking new territory
Ambush: They are also taught to attack from moving vehicles (pictured), which could be useful when attacking new territory
Tough: The young boys are made to scale high rope-walls during a treacherous army assault course as a senior commander watches on
Tough: The young boys are made to scale high rope-walls during a treacherous army assault course as a senior commander watches on
Evasion: The so-called 'cubs of the caliphate' are also forced to crawl through tight tunnels as part of their military training
Evasion: The so-called 'cubs of the caliphate' are also forced to crawl through tight tunnels as part of their military training
ISIS boasts about these vile training academies through its social media channels, referring to its young recruits as the 'cubs of the caliphate'.
It also shows them off as 'martyrs' when young recruits perish on the battlefield or in sickening suicide attacks which they are brainwashed into believing are a 'great honour'.
'They make a big point of showing off about it too by sharing martyrdom pictures and showing videos of military training,' said Charlie Winter from the Quilliam thinktank.
'For someone who is completely committed to Islamic State ideology, a hardcore supporter of jihadism and the caliphate, killing themselves in a suicide operation is the greatest honour they can receive.
'That's why you see suicide bomber registers in territory controlled by Islamic State, where you actually have to apply for who gets to kill themselves.' 
'It is abhorrent what is going on here but the people who are killing themselves are not being forced into it... They have often requested it.' 
'The recruitment or use of children by armed groups is expressly forbidden under international law,' the executive director of children's charity WarChild told MailOnline. 
Training: An adult ISIS commander walks through the channels created by his young recruits, who aim their weapons at their fellow fanatics
Training: An adult ISIS commander walks through the channels created by his young recruits, who aim their weapons at their fellow fanatics
Militants: ISIS boasts about these vile training academies through its social media channels, referring to its young recruits as the 'cubs of the caliphate'
Militants: ISIS boasts about these vile training academies through its social media channels, referring to its young recruits as the 'cubs of the caliphate'
Illegal: 'The recruitment or use of children by armed groups is expressly forbidden under international law,' the executive director of children charity WarChild told MailOnline
Illegal: 'The recruitment or use of children by armed groups is expressly forbidden under international law,' the executive director of children charity WarChild told MailOnline
Insurgency: Kurdish fighters yesterday took over a major supply route 50 miles north of Raqqa, where these youngsters are being trained
Insurgency: Kurdish fighters yesterday took over a major supply route 50 miles north of Raqqa, where these youngsters are being trained
Rob Williams added: 'It is ranked by the UN as one of 6 of the worst abuses of children in conflict. The Syrian conflict, and those which feed off it, have seen extreme targeting of children for killing, rape, detention and recruitment as young fighters. 
'Whilst some try to weaponise the children of the middle east, the humanitarian effort is at risk of failing the children who turn to us for help. 
'We are seeing high levels of trauma amongst children who have managed to escape from the fighting. But many are not getting the help they need. '
Kurdish fighters yesterday cut off a major supply line to the city where these boys are being trained, when they seized the city of Tal Abyad which sits on the Turkey-Syria border. 
They triumphantly raised their their flag over the border town, which is around 50 miles north of the ISIS stronghold.
The Kurds entered Tal Abyad from the east and was advancing toward the west amid fierce clashes with pockets of ISIS resistance, a Kurdish spokesman said.
'We expect to have full control over Tal Abyad within a few hours,' he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Monday afternoon.