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(Bloomberg) — They look like regular Islamic State militants in khaki fatigues and black bandanas, exercising and practicing combat routines. Yet their size and lack of trademark black beards betray them as children. The group, also known as ISIS or Da’esh, is already turning to the next generation to ensure its legacy of extremism and brutal violence endures as a U.S.-led offensive chips away at areas it controls in Iraq and Syria. Using recruitment offices in Syria called “Cubs of the Caliphate,” the al-Qaeda breakaway group is incorporating young Muslims into its ranks, sending some into battle or having them shoot hostages. “The issue is not just what to do about ISIS right now, it’s what to do with an entire generation,” said Patrick Skinner, director of special projects at Soufan Group, a security firm based in New York. “Once that indoctrination is in their hearts, it’s impossible to get it out.” Islamic State began the call to arms soon after its fighters swept through Iraq’s Mosul in June to set up their caliphate, a territory straddling the Syrian border. It then expanded and formalized the drive, and the Cubs of the Caliphate offices have attracted more than 400 children younger than 18 years old since January, according to the U.K.- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Indoctrination

Through intensive military training and careful indoctrination, the group is counting on kids to secure its future survival, making any loss of territory irrelevant to its longevity, analysts such as Skinner say. The children include sons of foreign fighters, orphans and boys who attend mosques, Islamic State schools or public beheadings, crucifixions, stonings or floggings, according to Rami Abdurrahman, head of SOHR, which documents the Syria war through activists on the ground.
“Parents are urged to encourage their sons to join, but Islamic State tells the children they don’t have to have their parents’ permission,” said Abdurrahman. The children are trained in the use of guns and how to fight, storm enemy positions and become informants. They’re rewarded with money and driving lessons, elevating their status among their peers, said Abdurrahman. When the parents of 15 recent recruits asked Islamic State about their whereabouts, they were told the boys were at “closed military camps” where they cannot see them, he said.

Spreading Ideology

It resembles what Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda did at camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Skinner said. Today, al-Qaeda-type movements are involved in many of the conflicts in the Middle East and Africa. “We’ve seen the consequences of this,” said Skinner. “Bin Laden is more powerful now than when he was alive because his ideology has spread.” Islamic State isn’t the only group involved in the four- year Syrian civil war using children. There’s conclusive evidence that all parties to the conflict have recruited non-adults in a variety of roles, including as combatants, messengers and spies and to staff checkpoints and maintain weapons, said Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for United Nations Children’s Fund, or Unicef. What sets an Islamic State child soldier apart is that he’s indoctrinated into a whole way of life, said Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder of Cornerstone Global Associates, which advises clients on risk in the Middle East. It’s not a political party that once it collapses, everything ends with it, he added.

Deep Rooted

“Now they’re creating a grassroots support that will only grow with time,” Nuseibeh said by phone from London. “Like we’ve seen with al-Qaeda, getting rid of the heads and even the network that connects the grassroots is potentially more dangerous.” With the heads eliminated, the followers spread everywhere, “like a virus that simply decides to blow up whenever it decides to,” he added. Evidence of the children’s engagement in the violence has emerged. In January, a day before Kurdish fighters wrested back full control of the Syrian town of Kobani, Islamic State sent 140 children to that front, according to Abdurrahman at SOHR. At least six of them were killed in one day, he said. The same month, the group released a video showing a child shooting alleged Russian agents. Another in March featured a child celebrating after shooting dead a Palestinian man. More recently, Cubs of the Caliphate children were seen in a video leading nine men in orange jumpsuits. One of them handed out knives to older members of the group who beheaded the men as the children watched, Abdurrahman said. Other videos posted online have them lined up for a parade, their arms outstretched and then above their head, or in black outfits practicing hand-to-hand combat. Skinner said that while governments are aware of the potential threat of Islamic State using the next generation to ensure its legacy, they also consider it as something down the road and “nobody likes difficult problems.” “They’re going to lose territory, they’re going to lose soldiers,” said Skinner, referring to Islamic State. “But the way they remain is by indoctrinating children.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Donna Abu-Nasr in Beirut at dabunasr@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net Rodney Jefferson, Amy Teibel

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Matthew 18:6: But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

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