ISIS presents training camp for kids in new video
Kids as young as five train at terror group's camp, where they learn how to shoot and behead; group members say younger generation being groomed tobe soldiers in long-term war.
The Islamic State group released a new propaganda video on Sunday depicting five-year-old children wearing uniforms, standing in formation, and taking part in military drills.
The video shows the child trainees at a training camp in Raqqa referred to as the Al Farouk Institute for Cubs.
The children in the nine-minute video, which is set to Arabic music, are seen wearing camouflage and black bandanas bearing the group's logo. They stand in line and follow their teacher's instructions – to raise their hands, bend over, and stand at attention. The children are also shown praying in a group led by their teacher, who kneels in front of a pair of rifles.
It's not the first time that the group has used children for propaganda purposes, while many times images were uploaded to social networks on their own initiative. Websites affiliated with ISIS regularly display images of babies with weapons, or even of children holding severed heads.
NBC recently reported that ISIS has been recruiting children under 15 to special camps where they receive ideological indoctrination.
They go on to learn to use weapons such as Kalashnikov rifles, and even how to sever a human head, using dolls for practice. "They force them to watch beheadings to erase the fear from their hearts," an Iraqi security officer said.
An ISIS operative told NBC that the group does not force parents to send their children to training camps. One parent reported that at the end of training, "cubs" are graded on physical fitness, and the best are sent to the battlefield.
But a member of the group said the goal was not to send them to the front, but to prepare them for future battles. He added that if a child is sent to a battle, he stays in the rear area to watch and learn how to fight. He claimed that the organization has to invest resources in training the young generation, because the war will last for a very long time.
