“Islamic State” still uses the suffer of Syrian children and involves them in its military operations
“Islamic State” still uses the suffer of Syrian children due to the military operations carried out by the regime forces across Syria that led to kill, wound and displace millions of Syrian people including a lot of children, where those children undergo “Sharia courses” according to the perspective of “Islamic State” towards Sharia (Islamic law). Then, some of them are joined training camps known as “cubs of the Caliphate”, where the children undergo intensive military exercises and “Sharia courses”, while others are within the courses of “suicide bombers”. This appeared significantly after the competition of military exercises and brainwash of those children and sending them to the battlefronts in order to commit suicide bombs.
SOHR activists could document the death of 52 fighters of Syrian children, who are under 16 years old, since the first documentation of graduation of “cubs of the caliphate” first batch and sending them to the city of Ayn al- Arab “Kobani” in January 25 until yesterday nigh July 14. The death toll includes at least 18 children blew themselves up using booby-trapped vehicles, the last three once were those who blew themselves up using booby-trapped vehicles within the military operation launched by IS against YPG in July 6, in the area expanding from around Jabal Abdul Aziz at the southern outskirts of the province of al- Hasakah reaching to the town of Serrin south of Ayn al- Arab (Kobani) and passing through the northern countryside of al- Raqqa. A 14-years old child commit a suicide bomb in the southwest of Ras al- Ayn (Sari Kanyi) while another 15-years old child blew himself up in the northeast of the city of Ayn Isa in the province of al- Raqqa.
It is worth mentioning that 31 children fighters of “cubs of the caliphate” killed in this month in bombing, clashes and US- led coalition airstrikes on IS positions. In addition to, information reported to SOHR that dozens of children fighters of sons of non- Syrian IS militants were also killed inside Syria.
It is worth noting that “Islamic State” has started to involve children widely in its battles due to the restrictions imposed by the Turkish authority on the Syrian border in the first month of this year to prevent the non- Syrian fighters to infiltrate through the border towards IS- held areas in Syria. It has also made “cubs of caliphate personnel” participate executions against captives. In early January, SOHR documented the first declared execution carried out by children, where 2 children executed 2 IS members confessed of being “agents for the Russian intelligence”. In late March, SOHR document participation of 9 children in an execution operation carried out by IS members, who are under the age of 18, in the province of Hama, where the children carried automatic rifles dragging 9 men and kneeling them on the ground, then one of the “cubs of caliphate” distributed knives on the 9 children who beheaded the 9 men. In addition to, 25 members of “cubs of caliphate” executed 25 soldiers of the regime forces on the Roman theater of Palmyra east of Homs in May 27.
SOHR also documented that more than 1100 children joined the so-called “cubs of the caliphate” since the beginning of 2015 until the beginning of July, where they have been recruited by the offices of “cubs of caliphate” in IS- held areas in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Deir Ezzor, al- Hasakah, Aleppo and al- Raqqa, some of them sent to Iraq.