The twin tragedy of “ISIS puppies”, adolescents trained and trained by terrorists

Six days after fierce fighting, Kurdish forces have recaptured the Hasakah detention camp in northern Syria, Was captured by dozens of ISIS fighters in a most daring operation three years ago after witnessing the fall of the caliphate they had built on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border. There they were About 3,500 men and about 700 teenage prisoners. These are, The boys of ISIS experienced their second biggest tragedy. First, they were recruited and encouraged by Islamic terrorists. The second was unleashed the moment Islamic State militants launched themselves to free prisoners in this prison. They used boys as human shields.

The death toll is confusing, but there are at least 200 prisoners on the death list, including many young people who stayed in the camp without a target. The attack began last Thursday Two car bombs fired by suicide drivers exploded Who blew up the entrance to the campus. Dozens of militants appeared behind them, rioting as prisoners burned plastic and blankets. When Kurdish soldiers of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) begin security, Several dozen fighters emerged from the sleeping cells It was hidden in the vicinity of this city of about 100,000 inhabitants. To control the situation, American soldiers intervened Supported by helicopter gunships, attack tanks and war-bombs from aircraft carriers stationed in the Persian Gulf.

Finally, The attackers were left stranded without water and forced to surrender. A video circulating on social media shows long queues of prisoners. But this attack shows that he was defeated in Raqqa, the capital of the caliphate. ISIS successfully reunites in the desert region of Syria Re-created many factions of well-armed militants. Even Exposed the plight of abducted children in the occupied territories of Syria and Iraq.. “They are victims. It is very difficult to imagine the atrocities that these children are witnessing, ”UNICEF Regional President Juliet Duma told Reuters. “The lives of these boys have been in danger for a long time,” he added.

The imprisonment of these minors has been questioned since the center and other Kurdish-dominated areas opened. Some believe that These boys, aged 12 to 18, are just as dangerous as other ISIS fighters. They received the same training. Others understand by putting them in a bad position without education or sports. A new generation of terrorists is being created. At least half are foreigners but their native countries do not want to get them.

In the ISIS caliphate, between 2014 and 2017, schools turned the traditional curriculum into teaching centers. Boys over the age of nine received religious and military instruction. After two or three months in these “schools” the teenagers were sent to carry out combat missions. According to the testimony of dozens of witnesses, the boys were able to send messages between units, prepare food and weapons for the militants, and more. Blood donors to wounded fighters. In other cases, they use them directly or as human shields They were sent carrying bombs towards enemy teams.

And this is not what ISIS is hiding. He proudly showed it in dozens of videos spread across his web channels. They called them “Puppies of the Caliph”, The new blood that is going to maintain the “ideals” of the new generation of jihadists. One of the videos still circulating around the dark internet Shows how boys between the ages of 10 and 15 receive military training A home made for this purpose. They all wear black uniforms and bandanas in the same color with the group logo. The boys pull weapons that exceed their height and run towards the target, they kick the door and enter the shooting, they move from environment to environment as special commandos and shoot towards the targets marked on the walls. Even Show how a guy trains as a sniper. There are many different picks Boys participating in the execution of 25 Syrian soldiers on July 4, 2015 The other is 22 minutes long, in which small prisoners are hanged in what is known as the “Speech Massacre” in the city of Tikrit. In other videos it is even harder to understand The boys cut the necks of the victims. There are also photos of a boy over the age of nine or ten raising the head of a decapitated man.

According to Mia Bloom, she read the event for her book, Small Weapons: Children and Terrorism. ISIS “puppies” can be divided into five categories. There are also children of foreign fighters; Local Syrian or Iraqi militants; War orphans who ended up in some orphanage in the area of ​​Khalifa; Children abducted after killing parents or forced to separate from them; And the children of those who live in the area, believe and support ISIS. There have been reports of mass kidnappings of children, as documented by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. ISIS recruited 1,100 minors between January and August 2015; A United Nations report in June of the same year that registered the names of 271 minor boys and seven girls affiliated with ISIS; Or another report by the Syrian Center for Human Rights Violations Documentation Compiled the names of 194 minor fighters killed in the war between September 2011 and June 2014.

Only around the city of Raqqa there Five “little” training camps Recommended names: Al Zarqawi, Osama bin Laden, Al Sherkrak, Al Taleya and Al Sharia (so-called terrorists), for children under 11 years of age. Generally, They arrived there after a period of “sedation” From giving sweets or other small gifts to minors to paying their families $ 250 to $ 300 a month. Many parents gave one of their children, while others write because of the famine of war.. At that point, they were summoned to public squares carrying the black flags of ISIS in fake parades and allowed to carry the weapons of the militants who guarded them. They were also forced to watch public executions. There are countless photos and videos of guys in the front row or between the legs of adults Witness the beheading. Many of them later appeared with their heads in their hands. According to Bloom’s book, it involves the technique of subjecting children to maximum violence from the first moment. It will be very difficult for them and their families to return to “normal” life.

After this point, they had Two or three weeks of religious study In the fields not far from their homes. It was there that they learned the basic ideology of ISIS terrorism, Islam and their specific view on Sharia and Quranic law. In general, these classes were offered from other Arab countries with religious and significant fanaticism. The boys led a new life around the five daily prayers. Stay away from any kind of games or distractions. Taught to give up “Satanic practices” such as video games, entertainment television or cell phones. The following month, the boys received military training in everything from martial arts classes to the use of weapons and ammunition. Were selected according to their ability Those who are sent to the front lines and others who spy on their own families and friends. In this sense, ISIS is different from other groups that use children operating in Uganda or Sri Lanka for their wars, such as “cannon fodder”.

ISIS leaders are convinced that they are building a new society and must prepare this generation to succeed in the struggle and implementation of Quranic law around the world. The account of some of the Witnesses involved in the cleanup work in these areas and compiled on that website Raqqa is quietly massacred, What to talk about The boys were trained not too far away by special commandos of any army in the world. When they were shot in the legs they were dragged between barbed wire and forced to drown in polluted water. They were rewarded and punished if they were able to aim during the shooting classes. Also remove the defenses of fear They were forced to lie on cushions infested with spiders or other insects.

There are cases of boys who failed to overcome these real tortures and sent to another type of training that is even more horrific: They were transformed into comics. They were taught how to prepare and store ammunition safely. Between September and November 2015, there were bombings in the suburbs of Aleppo, such as Azaz, Tal Rafat and Maria, which were carried out under ISIS ‘own propaganda. “Martyr Puppies”. A 12-year-old boy has been declared an “ISIS warrior”. When it exploded at the entrance to the Tabaka military airport, it allowed terrorists to seize power in the city, which controlled a key area near the Syrian-Iraqi border.

As was the case in many refugee camps, the boys who were prisoners in the Hasaka prison camp, who last week They were used as human shields by their own guides.