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Concern voiced over use of children for #terrorism

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radical-islamThe use of children in terrorist activities around the world including by Islamic State and PKK is causing increasing “real cause” for concern, writes Martin Banks.
 
It is an issue which is recognised by many international organisations and human rights NGOs and one which the EU is now being told it too should not ignore.
 
Both ISIS, or Islamic State, and PKK, the Kurdistan Workers Party, are widely credited with both using and abusing children for their terrorist activities.
 
For example, some 40% of the cadre operating in rural areas for PKK are under 18 years of age. Some children are as young as 8-9 years old. Some of them are kidnapped and “recruited” in the EU member states.
 
IS has long made clear its intent to raise the next generation of jihadists, calling them the “cubs of the caliphate.” In a recent publication of their English language magazine Dabiq, it encourages mothers to sacrifice their sons for the self-proclaimed Islamic state.
 
Parents have reported their children being sent home from war zones such as Syria and Iraq with Western dolls and teddy bears to ‘behead’ as part of training. IS alone is said to be using children as fighters and suicide bombers on a far larger scale than feared while boasting of their “martyrdom” in its gory propaganda.
 
And, according to a report for the New York based Combating Terrorism Centre, the number of children being sent into battle could increase still further as the terrorist group comes under increased pressure from military operations against its territories, air strikes and financial losses.
 
“The rate of operations involving one or more child or youth is likewise increasing; there were three times as many suicide operations involving children and youth in January 2016 as the previous January,” it says.
 
Just over half allegedly died in Iraq while 36 per cent died in Syria and the remainder were killed during operations in Yemen,Libya and Nigeria. While most were classed as “adolescent”, some were believed to be under 12 years old.
Among the numerous countries Isis claimed they hailed from were the UK, France and Australia, although most children were Syrian or Iraqi.
 
Almost 40% of deaths were in car and truck bombs, which children are frequently used to drive into military positions and other security targets as part of Isis’ battle strategy.
 
Aside from the bare statistics, as worrying as they are, a disturbing new ISIS video has emerged showing gun-toting child soldiers executing Taliban ‘spies’. The footage is understood to have been taken in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan or Pakistan and shows young jihadists using handguns to kill prisoners.
 
Meanwhile, according to Anadolu News Agency, Turkish security sources say that the PKK has recruited around 2,000 children during the last two years.
 
Between 14 August to 31 December 2013, 140 children aged between 13 and 17-years-old were with the terror group, security records say. Turkish security records say that in 2014, PKK terrorists abducted 983 children aged between 12 and 17. In 2015 until August 14, records said that 929 children aged between 12-17 were taken by the PKK. These numbers are rising in 2016, as the PKK continues to “recruit” and kidnap children for its terrorist activities.
 
Concerns were expressed by UNICEF’s statement too: “recent reports and statements related to child recruits in PKK are deeply concerning. Recruiting as well as accepting children in armed groups is against international law, which also specifies that child recruits must be regarded as victims and treated accordingly.”
 
It is also a major concern for Kurdish families in Turkey. According to Deutsche Welle, an increasing number of Kurdish families in Turkey are calling for the return of their children. They claim their children have been abducted by PKK for terrorist activities.
 
It is an issue for PYD, PKK’s sister organization in Syria, too. According to Human Rights Watch, “despite promises from PYD to stop using children, the problem persists”.
 
Scottish MEP Alyn Smith has recently demanded PYD ends child recruitment. Smith said “As I said to EU High Representative Mogherini before, there will be no peace without justice in Syria and the region, that means the EU has to support the vital work of NGOs that document human rights violations on all sides, including arbitrary detention, ethnic cleansing and the unacceptable use of child soldiers by Kurdish forces."
 
Elsewhere, more than 80 children from BiH is in the territory controlled by “the Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria, shows a research of the non-profitable organization “Atlantic Initiative”. The study warns that these children are potential “time bombs” that could pose a major security risk upon return to BiH.
 
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, an activist group that documents Isis atrocities, describes these child soldiers as a “lost generation”.
 
It has raised concern that even if terrorist groups like IS and PKK are defeated, their young recruits could continue their bloody attempts in the region.
 
It sums up the situation by saying: “While today’s child militants may well be tomorrow’s adult terrorists, in all likelihood, the moral and ethical issues raised by battlefield engagement with the Islamic State’s youth are likely to be at the forefront of the discourse on the international coalition’s war against the group in years to come.”
This is certainly the case for many terrorist groups in the region, including IS and PKK.

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