Part 2
Author: Farhad Furutan
1. Long-term Survival:
Esteemed readers, it is well-known that the ISIS Takfiri movement sets itself apart from other terrorist organizations that employ children and adolescents as combatants.
A core rationale behind ISIS’s recruitment of children into its caliphate lies in its conviction that enlisting a new and youthful generation will guarantee its longevity and bolster its influence.
Scholars posit that one of the heinous acts committed by ISIS against children is their coerced recruitment and deployment in armed conflicts.
In order to secure prospective “jihadist” recruits, ISIS systematically abducts children and transports them to educational facilities and even the front lines for ideological indoctrination.
As documented by the United Nations, ISIS abducted approximately 800 to 900 children within a localized area known as Mosul, with the intention of providing religious and military instruction.
Video footage disseminated by ISIS showcases children participating in military drills, reciting the Qur’an, and studying ideological doctrines. The instructors imbue Islamic principles in a distorted fashion, inciting them to harbor animosity toward and oppose fellow Muslims.
Although ISIS widely practices the forced recruitment of children, it appears that some children join voluntarily. However, recruitment should not truly be considered voluntary, as various factors such as poverty, insecurity, psychological issues, and discrimination influence them.
In general, children associated with ISIS join the group through three main pathways:
1. Those who voluntarily present themselves and enlist.
2. Children born into ISIS families and assimilated into the organization.
3. Children abducted and enlisted under severe duress and coercion.
It is evident that ISIS has an urgent need to recruit children, utilizing all available means in this regard. ISIS sees securing its future as essential, which it believes can only be achieved through long-term planning.
This generation of children is being mentally and physically prepared to become the fighters of tomorrow, trained to carry out even more brutal acts than what the group has perpetrated in the past, and sometimes still does today.
