The Islamic State group — also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) — had brainwashed more than 400,000 children in Mosul to fight for its cause, according to statements made by the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights on Tuesday.
The information comes just days after the United Nations Human Rights Commission had in a statement quoted its chief as saying that he was pained by the "heartbreaking images of children... children... being forced to carry out executions". Isis has had no qualms in deploying children in the field, and often released videos of the minors — in one case even a British child — carrying out executions. The terror group had even released a video of how it was training children to carry out executions.
An Iraqi News report has now quoted the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights' media director Jawad al-Shamri as saying in a statement that Isis has for two years modified school syllabuses to "brainwash student children, force hatred onto them and oblige them to join it." He added that the terror group had managed to "brainwash" nearly 400,000 children in this manner.
Shamri was also quoted as saying by the report: "Isis syllabuses taught children how to make explosive belts, take female hostages and prepare booby-traps." Having already approached the UN to provide "effective solutions to rehabilitate those children," he has now urged them to remedy the situation immediately, for fear that if this problem is left unaddressed, the lessons would be permanently etched into the minds of the youngsters.
Isis had deployed child soldiers in Mosul
Another Iraqi News report had quoted Alsumaira TV as saying that Isis had "deployed armed kids in Mosul's Old City" early last week. The child soldiers, which Isis refers to as Cubs of the Caliphate, had reportedly been deployed "as means to give an impression of control over its last bastion in Iraq in face of security campaigns seeking to liberate the city."
