ISIS Increasingly ‘Conscripting’ Children To Be Soldiers, Spies

ISIS is increasingly “conscripting” children to be soldiers and spies as it both conquers more land and attempts to maintain its grip on lands already conquered. 

In cities like Mosul–which fell to ISIS in June–children with “weapons stand at checkpoints and busy intersections.”

A CBS News/AP report says their ties to ISIS are visible via the Islamic Police patches they wear on “the left arms of their black uniforms.” And in towns like Kobane, where the battle between ISIS and ethnic Kurds has raged for more than a month, activists say “they observed children fighting alongside the militants.” 

One such activist, Mustafa Bali, “said he saw the bodies of four boys, two of them younger than 14” and one that may have been 18, all of whom had been involved in a suicide attack. 

Some who are fighting against ISIS in Syria’s Aleppo province talk of frequently discovering they are doing battle “against children in their late teens.” 

On November 24, Syria Direct published photos of children standing at attention outside ISIS’s “registration office” in al-Bab, which is in the Aleppo province. The children “were reportedly photographed taking a pledge of allegiance to [ISIS].”

The release of the photo coincides with ISIS’ release of a propaganda video showing children being trained as fighters. 

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