Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Chilling images show new ISIS terrorist school in Syria where children soldiers known as 'Caliphate Cubs' are trained to kill

Chilling images show new ISIS terrorist school in Syria where children soldiers known as 'Caliphate Cubs' are trained to kill

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2865509/Chilling-images-new-ISIS-terrorist-school-Syria-children-soldiers-known-Caliphate-Cubs-trained-kill.html

  • Children little older than 10 have been pictured at latest ISIS terror school 
  • Photographs believed to have been taken in Syrian capital Damascus
  • Young boys seen posing with ISIS flag and being taught to use AK47s
  • Terror group routinely uses child soldiers on frontline in Syria and Iraq
Chilling new images have emerged from inside Islamic State-run terrorist training schools in Syria, showing child soldiers being trained to kill using assault rifles.

Dubbed 'Caliphate Cubs', the children appear little more than 10 years old and are dressed in full combat gear as they struggle to hold weapons while standing in front of ISIS' infamous black flag.

The photographs were released by official Islamic State media over the weekend and apparently show a recently-opened school close to Damascus - the Assad regime-held capital of Syria where other preteen training camps are known have been operating in recent months. 

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Chilling: Dubbed 'Caliphate Cubs', the children appear little more than 10 years old and are dressed in full combat gear as they struggle to hold weapons while standing in front of ISIS' infamous black flag
Chilling: Dubbed 'Caliphate Cubs', the children appear little more than 10 years old and are dressed in full combat gear as they struggle to hold weapons while standing in front of ISIS' infamous black flag
Loss of innocence: A fair-skinned boy is handed an AK47 assault rifle by a grey-bearded ISIS general as he stands in formation alongside other young child soldiers
Loss of innocence: A fair-skinned boy is handed an AK47 assault rifle by a grey-bearded ISIS general as he stands in formation alongside other young child soldiers

The photographs taken near the Syrian capital Damascus and released by Islamic State terrorists show young children wearing masks and camouflaged military fatigues as they are trained to use AK47 assault rifles and carry out military drills. 

The high quality photographs were released on ISIS' favoured anonymous file sharing website JustPaste.it over the weekend, and appear to be still images taken from an as-yet unreleased edition of the terror group's many professionally shot propaganda videos.
In one photograph a large group of masked and armed child soldiers crowd around a minibus decorated with the ISIS flag, holding their guns aloft and striking poses bearing a striking resemblance to the terror group's executioner in chief - the British militant known as Jihadi John.

Another image shows a fair-skinned boy being handed a massive AK47 assault rifle by a grey-bearded ISIS general as he stands in formation alongside other young child soldiers.

Other shots from the propaganda release show the children performing fitness tests and military drills designed to train them for the harsh realities of the frontline.
Training: In much the same way as the Nazi Germany preyed on its impressionable young citizens with the creation of the Hitler Youth, ISIS has long groomed children to take part in jihad
Training: In much the same way as the Nazi Germany preyed on its impressionable young citizens with the creation of the Hitler Youth, ISIS has long groomed children to take part in jihad
The photographs were released on ISIS' favoured anonymous file sharing website JustPaste.it this weekend
The photographs were released on ISIS' favoured anonymous file sharing website JustPaste.it this weekend

In a clear display of ISIS' callous attitude towards the use of child soldiers, one photograph from the terror group's latest media release shows two bearded adult militants laughing and leaning against a lorry while a group of young boys are forced to carry out military exercises in front of them.

Other shots show the heavily armed boys carrying their weapons inside what appears to be a mosque, where there appear to be taking instructions on how to use an AK47 from another masked militant, who stands in front of what looks like a minbar - a type of pulpit used by Islamic preachers.

In much the same way as the Nazi Germany preyed on its impressionable young citizens with the creation of the Hitler Youth, ISIS has long groomed children to take part in jihad.

The practice was the subject of the second episode of VICE's groundbreaking 'Islamic State' documentary series, in which very young boys were seen being asked whether they want to be a suicide bomber or a jihadist, and were forced to repeat calls for the murder of Western 'infidels'.
Exploitation: In a clear display of ISIS' callous attitude towards the use of child soldiers, one photograph from the terror group's latest media release shows two bearded adult militants laughing and leaning against a lorry while a group of young boys are forced to carry out military exercises in front of them
Exploitation: In a clear display of ISIS' callous attitude towards the use of child soldiers, one photograph from the terror group's latest media release shows two bearded adult militants laughing and leaning against a lorry while a group of young boys are forced to carry out military exercises in front of them
Another shot shows the heavily armed boys carrying their weapons inside what appears to be a mosque
Another shot shows the heavily armed boys carrying their weapons inside what appears to be a mosque
Well-crafted: The photographs appear to be still images taken from an as-yet unreleased edition of the terror group's many professionally shot propaganda videos
Well-crafted: The photographs appear to be still images taken from an as-yet unreleased edition of the terror group's many professionally shot propaganda videos

In the VICE footage, ISIS' PR man Abu Moussa - who has since been killed - describes how every male child is forced to attend Sharia camps to be taught the militants' radical interpretation of Islam.

After the age of 16 the boys are sent to a military camp, where they are given intensive training in the art of warfare and prepared for possible future as either front-line militia or suicide bombers.

The images emerged as just weeks after ISIS released a video entitled 'The Blood of Jihad 2' - the second installment of a video series revealing life inside the group's training camps.

The video is believed to have been filmed in the ISIS-held province of Nineveh in, Iraq.

The highly choreographed video opens with dramatic slow motion shots of of young boys firing AK47s as they advance in a line. All the boys are seen wearing matching military camouflage fatigues and chequered headscarves.

The first part of the film, which appears to be shot in soft focus and is set to music, then shows the boys undertaking training in martial arts.

One of the boys can be seen holding the black flag of Islamic State whilst another of the boys, wearing a headband with a slogan in Arabic, leads the martial arts drill.

Sick: Adult Islamic State militants (pictured) have long groomed children to take part in their acts of terrorism
The child soldiers appear to be taking instructions on how to use their AK47s from another masked militant (pictured left) who stands in front of what looks like a minbar - a type of pulpit used by Islamic preachers
Sick: Adult Islamic State militants (pictured) have long groomed children to take part in their acts of terrorism
Sick: Adult Islamic State militants (pictured) have long groomed children to take part in their acts of terrorism
In October another set of images emerged purporting to show young Syrian children being trained at a military camp run by ISIS in the group's de facto capital Raqqa.
The photographs showed children barely older than five being taught basic combat and survival skills, learning how to use enormous assault rifles, and being given lessons in extremist ideology.
The disturbing images of the school, said to be named Al-Sharea, were shared online by Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently - a small activist collective which secretly documents the shocking violence and oppression the terror group has brought to their home city.
According to the activist group, the Al-Sharea school is specifically run to provide militant training to young males under the age of 16.
Its objective is understood to be to wildly distort the views of young Raqqa residents, creating an entire generation for whom the idea of Islamic extremism and acts of terrorism are second nature.
Previous: The images emerged as just weeks after ISIS released a video entitled 'The Blood of Jihad 2' - the second installment of a video series revealing life inside the group's training camps
Previous: The images emerged as just weeks after ISIS released a video entitled 'The Blood of Jihad 2' - the second installment of a video series revealing life inside the group's training camps
Armed: The highly choreographed video opens with dramatic slow motion shots of of young boys firing AK47s as they advance in a line
Armed: The highly choreographed video opens with dramatic slow motion shots of of young boys firing AK47s as they advance in a line
Violence: The first part of the film, which appears to be shot in soft focus and is set to music, then shows the boys undertaking training in martial arts. Pictured, an adult militant kicks a child in the leg during training
Violence: The first part of the film, which appears to be shot in soft focus and is set to music, then shows the boys undertaking training in martial arts. Pictured, an adult militant kicks a child in the leg during training

USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS IN CONFLICTS ROSE SIGNIFICANTLY LAST YEAR

A report released by the United Nations in July documented more than 4,000 cases of children being recruited and used in conflicts last year - but said thousands more are estimated to have been forced to join armies and rebel groups around the globe
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's annual report on children and armed conflict adds Nigeria's notorious extremist group Boko Haram to the U.N. 'list of shame.' 
It now includes eight government forces and 51 armed groups that recruit or use, kill or maim, commit sexual violence or rape against children in conflicts, or attack schools or hospitals.
The report said the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict remained prevalent in 2013 and those who commit grave violations against children, especially sexual violence, usually don't face justice.
Leila Zerrougui, the special representative for children and armed conflict, told a news conference launching the report that advances by Islamist extremists in Iraq 'are creating extremely volatile and dangerous conditions for children.'
She said the secretary-general has listed four new parties for recruiting and using children: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, al-Qaida affiliated Jahbat al-Nusra, the ultraconservative Islamic rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, and the Kurdish People Protection Units or YPG.

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