The Murderous Children of the Caliphate.
Examining the children fighting as combatants with ISIS.
This post focuses on the ICCT Research Paper
August 2017
Authors: Liesbeth van der Heide
Jip Geenen DOI: 10.19165/2017.1.09
ISSN: 978-12345-99990
The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT) is an independent think and do tank providing multidisciplinary policy advice and practical, solution-oriented implementation support on prevention and the rule of law, two vital pillars of effective counter-terrorism. ICCT’s work focuses on themes at the intersection of countering violent extremism and criminal justice sector responses, as well as human rights-related aspects of counter-terrorism.
New video message from The Islamic State: “The Fertile Nation #4 – Wilāyat al-Raqqah”
Released on August 23, 2017
For prior parts in this video series see: #3, #2, and #1. The above image is from the Islamic State’s video series The Fertile Nation, it is the fourth video in the series. The boy on the banner is the child used in the video by ISIS, to threaten Donald Trump the ‘puppet of the Jews’.
I write frequently on the Islamic State and terrorism in general, as a core focus of my work, is to highlight terrorism and terrorist organizations internationally and more importantly in the Caribbean. Terrorism and terrorist organizations have been using the Caribbean and in particular Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana as recruitment hubs, since the Afghan war against the former Soviet Union, in the past that fact was swept under the rug by governments and their corporate media outlets, throughout the Caribbean.
In contemporary times, the internet age suppression of such information is impossible. With Trinidad and Tobago a Caribbean island, being the country with the highest per capita foreign fighters in the Islamic State in the Western hemisphere, it becomes an existential necessity to report on these developments instead of pretending that the Caribbean, does not have a very serious terrorist problem. Several fighters from Trinidad and Tobago have already returned from Syria and Iraq, along with their wives and children and are now resident in that country. With the recent Islamic State videos featuring children as young as four killing people, the fact that such children are now residing in TNT and other islands in the region is cause for grievous concern. Here then are some insights from the ICCT Research Paper.
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| The boy who threatened Trump being instructed in the use of a sniper rifle, in Raqq ISIS' Syrian capital. |
From all the professional material that I have had to study, in preparing this analysis, it is clear that the motivation of ISIS in using children is to send several clear messages, two of which are included in the following: primarily to sow fear in opponents and particularly the Western world, and to announce to the world that the next generation of ISIS fighters are raised up and fighting. All of the videos shown below are from the series entitled fertile nation, all were filmed in the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqa.
New video message from The Islamic State: “The Fertile Nation #1 – Wilāyat al-Raqqah”.
on June 28, 2017
The Islamic State: “The Fertile Nation #2 – Wilāyat al-Raqqah”.
on July 3, 2017
http://nazaritze-lionzman.blogspot.com/2017/07/caucasian-british-man-in-islamic-state.html
The Islamic State: “The Fertile Nation #3 – Wilāyat al-Raqqah”.
On July 14, 2017.
What follows is a Dutch language, translated to English text from an NCTV and AIVD report.
ISIS ziet minderjarigen als een essentieel onderdeel voor het voortbestaan van het ‘kalifaat’. Minderjarigen worden vanaf jonge leeftijd op alomvattende wijze geïndoctrineerd met het gedachtegoed van ISIS. Dit gebeurt zowel via onderwijs en trainingskampen als via de directe omgeving. Er zijn signalen dat een deel van de jongens in ISIS-gebied vanaf steeds jongere leeftijd actief deelneemt aan geweldshandelingen van ISIS. Doordat ze in een oorlogsgebied leven, komen kinderen geregeld in aanraking met geweld en dood, wat traumatisch voor hen kan zijn.
ISIS sees minors as an essential component for the perpetuation of its caliphate. Minors are indoctrinated from a very young age in a holistic manner, in the worldview of ISIS. This occurs both through education and training camps and the immediate environment that the children inhabit. There are indicators that a segment of the boys in ISIS territory are active participants in violent acts from a very young age. As a result of the fact that they live in a war zone, children in ISIS, on a regular basis are exposed to violence and death, this can be very traumatizing for children. (Translated by Wade Bailey).
Children in IS according to the report who return to the West are more prone to use violence than the average child, as a result of them having been exposed to death and bloodshed at such early ages. It must also be noted that many of these children, are combat trained with some actually having participated in active combat situations and have taken lives in the process, as a result some are battle hardened and may well be used by IS, to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe (according to the UN’s rights of the child accord a minor is anyone under the age of 18).
The past months have seen IS in Iraq and Syria under increasing pressure, from coalition airstrikes and the combined forces of the US led Iraqi government, and the Shia militias allied to the government. In Syria, the so called Syrian Defense Forces and a host of other jihadist militia groups are battling the Assad regimes, troops. Although IS has taken a pounding in Syria it is still clinging to its Raqqa stronghold. The loss of territory in Iraq and Syria spells a surge in IS families returning to Europe, some of their children pose a serious security threat as was previously indicated, therefore the problem is generational and will not be solved in a few months or even years. From ISIS propaganda and messaging, it is apparent that education is heavily emphasized, within the group. The following examines IS educational methods and techniques of indoctrination.
Above is a photo of an app, designed by IS for young children in the group. As is clear the app is designed to familiarize children with combat scenarios, thus exposing them from an early age to warfare and its reality.
The Educational system in Islamic State held territory.
The Islamic State (IS) erected what is called the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education made education for boys from 6-18 compulsory and it did the same for girls from 6-15 years of age. Until the age of six boys and girls attend co-ed classes, after six they attend classes with children of the same sex. Continuity is one of the primary goals of IS, therefore intact families, particularly child producing families are extremely important to the survival of IS.
The International Counterterrorism Centre, the Hague/den Haag (Netherlands) produced a report entitled: Children of the Caliphate.
The place of children within the caliphate was ubiquitous; to the point that it is clear from the report that IS is consciously preparing their minors to be fighters. The very name Cubs of the Caliphate suggests aggression, since a cub is a Lion's whelp and a Lion is a predator, resultantly ISIS children will grow up to become predators hunting their prey. Words like hunter and lion are used, in ISIS literature liberally to describe its fighters and their enemies, of course, are referred to as prey.
Above is an example of an ISIS school textbook for children, teaching them the use of weapons and their application in a war setting.
Photo showing the inside of an ISIS school for young children.
Children being taught in the school.
An ISIS Cubs training camp .
Images from an ISIS propaganda video that imitates a video game. The video is clearly targeting children in general and particularly young children.
Above a young boy who is an ISIS preacher. The ideological nature of IS. Is far stronger than any of its other components and its ideology in spite of the western government's insistence that it is not a Muslim organization, the ideology of ISIS, to a large extent is taken from the Koran. Koranic teaching is emphasized and reinforced in ISIS schools, for example, an 8-year-old Syrian boy called Taim in a Washington Post interview published on October 2016 said that: “I remember how my new teachers paid special attention to a story from the life of Prophet Muhammad. In it is described how he brutally punished a group of Camel thieves, by gouging out their eyes and cutting off their limbs. What was described is the Hudud, the punishment prescribed for persons in violation of sharia law, specifically theft. The Hudud is written about often in ISIS literature and it is often graphically portrayed in their literature with gruesome accompanying photos.
History classes in an ISIS school consist of narratives from the life of Prophet Muhammad. Instruction in subjects such as philosophy et al is forbidden, so is French and several other languages. Children of foreign fighters receive extra Arabic lessons and there are also special classes taught to children from the Caucasus and Uighur children.
This Paper is part of a wider project and it may be made available to the wider public. Interested persons can click the links provided to read more from the author of this paper: Download the Paper here FREE:
http://nazaritze-lionzman.blogspot.com/
http://nazaritze-lionzman.blogspot.com/
Below are some links and resources for further study.
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1 Pamela Engel, “‘Sometimes the gun is taller than the kid’: How ISIS uses schools to indoctrinate children,” Business Insider UK March 12, 2016,
2 Mia Bloom, John Horgan, and Charlie Winter, “Depictions of Children and Youth in the Islamic State’s Martyrdom Propaganda,” CTC Sentinel 9 (2015-2016): p. 2.
3 “Child returnees from conflict zones,” Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN), RAN Issue Paper (2016), https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/networks/radicalisation_awareness_network/ran-papers/docs/issue_paper_child_returnees_from_conflict_zones_112016_en.pdf.
4 Nadim Houry, “Children of the Caliphate: What to Do About Kids Born Under ISIS,” Human Rights Watch (2016), https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/11/23/children-caliphate.
5 In this article, the terms child, youth, and juvenile refer to those above the national age of criminal responsibility (differs per country but ranges from 8-15 years) who, by law, are distinguished from adult offenders in the criminal justice system on account of their age.
6 Bibi van Ginkel and Eva Entenmann (Eds.), “The Foreign Fighters Phenomenon in the European Union: Profiles, Threats & Policies,” The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 7, no. 2 (2016). DOI: 10.19165/2016.1.02.
7 “Foreign Fighters: An updated assessment of the Flow of Foreign Fighters into Syria and Iraq,” The Soufan Group, (2015): 13.
8 “Resolution 2174 (2014),” UN Security Council, S/RES/2178 (2014): para. 4, http://www.un.org/en/sc/ctc/docs/2015/SCR%202178_2014_EN.pdf.
9 Council of the European Union, “Member Sates’ approaches to dealing with accompanying family members of Foreign Terrorist Fighter Returnees, in particular children: Results of the questionnaire and follow-up,” Council of the European Union, 6900/17, (2017), http://statewatch.org/news/2017/mar/eu-ctc-report-foreign-fighters-children-6900-17.pdf.
10 For example, AIVD, “Terugkeerders in beeld”, AIVD: The Hague (2017).
11 AIVD and NCTV, “Minderjarigen bij ISIS,” AIVD and NCTV: The Hague (2017), https://www.aivd.nl/publicaties/publicaties/2017/04/06/minderjarigen-bij-isis-van-nctv-en-aivd.
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