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Child soldier wearing Shia militia uniform pictured firing missiles
Photograph illustrates how children are being sucked into Iraq violence
Previously it was though only ISIS used child soldiers in Middle East
But young boy is believed to fight for rival Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq brigades

Published: 12:45 GMT, 24 December 2014 | Updated: 13:12 GMT, 24 December 2014

A chilling new image has emerged showing a child wearing the uniform of an Islamic militia being used to fire rockets from a car-mounted missile launcher during fierce clashes with ISIS jihadis.

Illustrating the way children are being increasingly sucked into the deadly violence engulfing vast swathes of Syria and Iraq, the child soldier - who appears no older than eight - wears full military uniform as he kneels down to detonate the explosive.

Until now the majority of children engaged in the conflict have been forced to do so by ISIS militants in the Sunni militants' strongholds of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.

However the young child in this latest image wears the uniform of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq - a Shia militia allied to the Syrian and Iraqi regimes and a sworn enemy of the Islamic State.

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Child soldier: This chilling new image shows a child wearing the uniform of a Shia militia being used to fire rockets from a car-mounted missile launcher during fierce clashes with ISIS jihadis

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Different group: The young boy wears the uniform of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (pictured) - a Shia militia allied to the Syrian and Iraqi regimes and a sworn enemy of the Islamic State

Children have been increasingly drawn in to the bloody conflict in the Middle East, with ISIS establishing a number of Sharia camps where young boys under the age of 16 are sent for a mixture of combat training and lessons in the terror group's hardline interpretation of Islam.

Earlier this month chilling new images emerged from inside Islamic State-run terrorist training schools in Syria, showing child soldiers being trained to kill using assault rifles.

Once the boys turn 16 they are thrown into the frontline alongside adult militants to wield massive assault rifles and rocket launchers in chaotic street battles against troops from the Syrian and Iraqi regimes, Kurdish forces, and rival rebel groups such as the Al Qaeda affiliated Jabhat Al-Nusra.

There have, however, been numerous reports of ISIS forcing children into battle at a much younger age, with militants said to value the so-called martyrdom of children above that of adults.

Until now, ISIS were largely believed to be only group using child soldiers in the conflict, but the emergence of the photograph showing a boy wearing the uniform of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq has cast new light on the involvement of those under 16 waging jihad in Syria and Iraq.

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Development: Until now, ISIS were largely believed to be only group using child soldiers in the conflict, but the emergence of the photograph showing a boy wearing the uniform of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (pictured) has cast new light on the involvement of those under 16 waging jihad in Syria and Iraq

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Fighters: Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, the group the young boy in the latest photograph appears to be fighting for, is a Shia milita that considers the Islamic State among its deadliest enemies