Cubs of the Caliphate and the Use of Child Soldiers

On September 20^th the Islamic State released a propaganda video of a young blonde boy executing a prisoner with a handgun. The boy appears to be younger than 10 years old. The video lasted 15 minutes, showing the boy and an IS member jointly pulling the trigger on the prisoner who supposedly was a spy.

Earlier that week IS released another video showing boys proclaiming their alliance to the terrorist group. Some of the boys stated that they wanted to be martyrs for the sake of Allah.

These boys are known as Cubs of the Caliphate.

The use of children in war is becoming an increasing issue. 37 minors who may have ties with IS are currently being investigated in France.

On September 14^th French police arrested a 15-year-old boy suspected of carrying out an attack in the name of the Islamic State. This is the third 15-year-old to be arrested within the week. None of the 15-year-old boys’ names have been released yet.

The 15-year-old was arrested on Wednesday in the northeastern region of Paris. Last Thursday another 15-year-old boy was taken into custody in Rueil-Malmaison. On Saturday the other 15-year-old boy was arrested. The boys were detained with the notion that they would carry out attacks in the name of IS.

There’s no proof that the teenage boys knew each other, but it is highly plausible that they were linked through IS member Rashid Kassim. The teenage boy arrested on Wednesday used encrypted social media to communicate to Kassim.

Rashid Kassim (also known as Ibn Qassim) is 29-years-old. He, along with his family left France to live in Egypt. The year prior he went to Algeria, where officials believe he was reportedly indoctrinated in support of jihadist doctrine. He is believed to have planned four attacks in France since June. He had been an IS propagandist for several months when he first appeared in a July Islamic state video following the Nice attack.

He praised the two 19-year-old boys, Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, who carried out the murder of Fr Jacques Hamel. Kassim is also linked to the three women who were recently arrested in Paris for the failed bomb attack. Once their failed attack was made public Kassim called on male IS followers through Telegram saying “what’s your excuse?” and “why didn’t you take attack?” On Twitter he urged his 300 followers to carry out attacks in France.

On August 20^th a 12-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy carried out an attack in the name of IS in Turkey leaving 54 people killed and 66 injured at a wedding.

This however is not the first time we’ve seen terrorist groups use children and teenagers to carry out attacks. Groups like Hitler’s Youth, the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, and other jihadist groups which have used children to carry out operations.

There are multiple reasons to use children in warfare. LRA leader, Joseph Kony, kidnapped children and trained them to be rebels after recruiting fell off. Rebels and terrorists also rely on the fact that modern professional armies are often reluctant to target children. We tend to assume children are innocent and we morally feel guilty when having to forcefully go against them. It’s a smart strategy for terrorists and organized groups to use children.

IS uses children for these purposes, but the recruitment of children also serves a further purpose. IS’s end goal of establishing the Islamic Caliphate requires a long-term pipeline of future supporters. Their goal of being a state encourages them to target youth for recruitment in order to demonstrate that Islamic State is planning for the future and intends to “remain and expand.”

It is estimated that there at least 1,500 IS child fighters. They can be spies, guards to frontline soldiers, suicide bombers, recruiters and executioners. Whatever role child fighters play in the Islamic State; they are all students. IS expends substantial resources in teaching its Cubs of the Caliphate, including providing instruction on Sharia law and jihadist doctrine.

When these cubs are old enough, they will teach just as they were taught. It is reported that the caliphate has 31,000 pregnant women living with them. That is another 31,000 children that can be brought up in a world where the caliphate of the Islamic State is not a jihadist aspiration, but a jihadist fact.

IS is forcing the United States and other countries to deal with new threats. Child recruitment brings about serious strategic and moral dilemmas for our law enforcement and military officials. It also raises the question of how do we prevent children from becoming the jihadists of the future?