Child suicide bombers - unseen side of Syrian conflict

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 5

By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:

Army of millions of refugees, deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, social problems - this all is only the visible part of crimes of militants of the “Islamic State” (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.

At the time when international coalition forces praised the successes of their own anti-terrorist military operation in Syria and Iraq, the IS militants were not standing still and waiting, searching for new, sophisticated methods to create a “caliphate”.

A new method involved children. The IS militants brought the idea of creating an army of child soldiers to the agenda for the first time in February 2015.

Currently, at least eight million people live on the territory of Syria and Iraq controlled by IS militants, and at least 30 percent of them are minors.

With the seizure of the Syrian city of Al-Raqqah, which is now considered the “capital of the IS”, all schools were closed in this and other Syrian cities under occupation of IS militants.

It is no secret that currently, special “Sharia camps” operate on Iraqi and Syrian territories under the control of militants for training children, especially, orphans.

According to the estimations of Arab media, currently, more that 5,000 children are being trained in such “Sharia camps” on the territory controlled by the IS.

So called training in “Sharia camps” is held in two stages. The first stage lasts around 45 days during which the children learn the “Sharia” rules and using firearms. The second stage lasts three months during which the children are taught to kill and die for the sake of Allah without hesitation.

There are many videos online, showing how children participate in public executions and directly take part in killing people. Those who are trained in ‘Sharia Camps’ have already demonstrated their deadly skills, not only in Syria and Iraq, but also in neighboring Turkey.

For example, the act of terrorism committed in the Turkish Gaziantep province in August 2016 was committed by a teenage suicide bomber.

Several teenage suicide bombers were detained in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

The number of terrorist attacks in Syria and Iraq with the participation of teenagers has increased by more than 11 percent in 2016, compared to last year.

According to the Arab media outlets, about 75 percent of terrorist attacks committed in Syria and Iraq account for teenage girls, mainly orphans.

Today it is difficult to say how long the conflict will last in Syria and Iraq. But even after the IS militants are fully neutralized, a threat of using child suicide bombers will remain in those countries for a long time.