MESOP ALARM ! – 153 Kurdish Children Radicalised by Islamic State

Basnews | Hazhar Mamuzini – 27.08.2015 18:41 – MOSUL – As Islamic State (IS) continues to recruit jihadists from around the world to reinforce frontlines in Iraq and Syria; reports of the kidnap of underage children are emerging. The children are radicalised through the teaching of IS religious philosophy and military training.

Several children, unable to endure the harsh training, fled the jihadist group, only to be re-captured and subsequently executed.Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official from Mosul Saed Mamuzini told BasNews that IS militants have so far kidnapped or arrested at least 1,504 children in Mosul. The children are now receiving radical religious lectures and military training at the Salamiya and Tal Afar military bases. Other radicalised children are working as IS spies, monitoring the civilians and reporting any suspicious activity. Mamuzini claims that several children have been killed during military training, when they were learning how to make car bombs and other explosive devices. According to UN investigations, IS started training children in 2003 when they established secret bases in Syria and Iraq. BasNews has learned that since May 2014, 153 Kurdish children have been trained in radicalism in Halab, northern Syria. Human rights activists believe that IS either brainwashes the children in mosques, or kidnaps them. In other cases, families with financial problems sell their children to the jihadist group. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) previously announced that 800 children have been militarised. As well as teaching the children how to fight, the jihadists have trained them how to behead prisoners and other methods of execution. Recent footage has recently gone viral on social media, showing underage children involved in executions.