An education in terror
On the streets of Europe, we meet teenage boys
trained by IS.
Their testimony reveals wide-ranging plans to turn children into killers.
trained by IS.
Their testimony reveals wide-ranging plans to turn children into killers.
Warning: Disturbing content
Mutassim is nervous. The 16-year-old has never flown in a plane before. He is looking around at the other passengers waiting at the departure gate in Athens airport.
He is unsure of himself, so he mimics their actions, placing his boarding pass inside his passport, and queuing to board.
As the flight is called, the Syrian boy runs through the few phrases of Spanish he's learned. The authorities may ask him questions, and he's travelling on a fake Spanish passport. It's cost more than €3000, bought from a chain of people smugglers who helped him escape from Syria, to Turkey and now into Europe.
Only a month earlier he had been in Raqqa, a member of the so-called Islamic State. The teenager had been assigned to a city hospital, tending to IS fighters and helping the sick. Before that, he was with one of the propaganda units.
But that was another life, one he wants to forget. The airstrikes, the screams, the beheadings, are behind him now. They must remain a secret, as a new start awaits in Germany - but only if the authorities don't discover that he had trained and served as a Lion Cub for the caliphate.
The so-called Islamic State is collapsing. In Syria, Iraq and Libya, it is losing territory. Its ambitions of a global caliphate are unrealised. But perhaps this was predicted, even anticipated. There was a back-up plan, an insurance policy aimed at prolonging its survival long after Raqqa, Sirte and Mosul slipped from its grasp.
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First came the grooming, then the recruitment and training to create a new army of child jihadists, who might grow into adult militants. The Islamic State’s next generation of hate.
Mutassim is nervous. The 16-year-old has never flown in a plane before. He is looking around at the other passengers waiting at the departure gate in Athens airport.
He is unsure of himself, so he mimics their actions, placing his boarding pass inside his passport, and queuing to board.
As the flight is called, the Syrian boy runs through the few phrases of Spanish he's learned. The authorities may ask him questions, and he's travelling on a fake Spanish passport. It's cost more than €3000, bought from a chain of people smugglers who helped him escape from Syria, to Turkey and now into Europe.
Only a month earlier he had been in Raqqa, a member of the so-called Islamic State. The teenager had been assigned to a city hospital, tending to IS fighters and helping the sick. Before that, he was with one of the propaganda units.
But that was another life, one he wants to forget. The airstrikes, the screams, the beheadings, are behind him now. They must remain a secret, as a new start awaits in Germany - but only if the authorities don't discover that he had trained and served as a Lion Cub for the caliphate.
The so-called Islamic State is collapsing. In Syria, Iraq and Libya, it is losing territory. Its ambitions of a global caliphate are unrealised. But perhaps this was predicted, even anticipated. There was a back-up plan, an insurance policy aimed at prolonging its survival long after Raqqa, Sirte and Mosul slipped from its grasp.
read more >>
First came the grooming, then the recruitment and training to create a new army of child jihadists, who might grow into adult militants. The Islamic State’s next generation of hate.
Still from IS propaganda video
Mutassim is not much a warrior.
He is short and nervous. I meet him in the small German village where
he is now living. He is smoking - something he's taken up since he left
Syria, as it's forbidden by IS. And, even though it's early in the day,
he offers me a can of lager.
He says he has stopped praying and has abandoned his beliefs. Previously, he had absorbed IS religious lessons, and followed its extremist path.
Mu’tassim speaks to Quentin:
He says he has stopped praying and has abandoned his beliefs. Previously, he had absorbed IS religious lessons, and followed its extremist path.
Mu’tassim speaks to Quentin:
He has filmed the aftermath of
coalition airstrikes, he tells me, helped the wounded in hospital and
witnessed public beheadings. He also received the pre-requisite military
training. For Mutassim, it took just 15 days - for some it can be
longer. The programme is rigorous, starting the day with 4am prayers.
Physical exercise, combat training and lessons in Sharia law follow.
As part of their training, teenagers were required to jump through burning tyres and crawl under barbed wire while live rounds were shot over the their heads.
A friend - a 13-year-old boy from Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus - was struck in the head by a stray round and died. All this before Mutassim even turned 16.
As part of their training, teenagers were required to jump through burning tyres and crawl under barbed wire while live rounds were shot over the their heads.
A friend - a 13-year-old boy from Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus - was struck in the head by a stray round and died. All this before Mutassim even turned 16.
Still from IS propaganda video
Many armed groups across Africa, the
Middle East and South America, have trained children for battle.
Recruiting child soldiers is a war crime. But few have refined the
process so efficiently as the Islamic State group.
War is brutalising, and IS have turned it into an art form. The mobile propaganda units that the group set up throughout its territory show punishments and battles. Children as young as five years old attend.
In footage secretly filmed in Raqqa and passed to the BBC, children gather excitedly around a cage in the city. Inside is one of their neighbours, a local shopkeeper called Samir.
Caged man:
War is brutalising, and IS have turned it into an art form. The mobile propaganda units that the group set up throughout its territory show punishments and battles. Children as young as five years old attend.
In footage secretly filmed in Raqqa and passed to the BBC, children gather excitedly around a cage in the city. Inside is one of their neighbours, a local shopkeeper called Samir.
Caged man:
They stare at the prisoner, who
sits crouched with his head bowed in the centre of the cage. One of the
children squirts him with something. According to the charge sheet, he
sexually harassed a Muslim woman. His punishment is to provide the
children with entertainment - like an animal in a zoo. But they, and
children like them, are likely to have seen much worse - beheadings and
executions.
The militants have been careful in how they recruited teenagers to their cause. They have tempted them with promises not just of salvation and paradise, but of more earthly desires.
Life with IS may be hard and dangerous, but it is not without its rewards.
For Mutassim, it was the promise of a wife. At the age of 14 and a half, he was keen to get married. When his family refused, IS stepped in. They allowed him to live with their men, gave him responsibilities, trained him to drive and pledged to find him a bride.
The militants have been careful in how they recruited teenagers to their cause. They have tempted them with promises not just of salvation and paradise, but of more earthly desires.
Life with IS may be hard and dangerous, but it is not without its rewards.
For Mutassim, it was the promise of a wife. At the age of 14 and a half, he was keen to get married. When his family refused, IS stepped in. They allowed him to live with their men, gave him responsibilities, trained him to drive and pledged to find him a bride.
They treated me well, I felt like a king and they are my servants.”
Mutassim was a willing
recruit. He says that about 70% of the youngsters who joined the
organization had family issues. “They would use it against their
families, so either they fulfil their demands, or they would join the
organization.”
As the tempo of war increased, life in Raqqa became harder.
“When the stadium attack in France happened, Raqqa couldn’t sleep,” he says. “The French bombed the entire city. I was angry because innocent civilians were killed.”
As the tempo of war increased, life in Raqqa became harder.
“When the stadium attack in France happened, Raqqa couldn’t sleep,” he says. “The French bombed the entire city. I was angry because innocent civilians were killed.”
A French jet fighter takes off from an aircraft carrier in November 2015
After another airstrike, he heard
children crying and women screaming for help. “It was a scene that I
would never ever forget. It felt like an action movie.”
But he eventually became disillusioned with IS. The fighters he had admired as fearless and powerful, were not true to their beliefs, he says.
But he eventually became disillusioned with IS. The fighters he had admired as fearless and powerful, were not true to their beliefs, he says.
I decided to leave when I saw one of them beating up a woman, I got so mad. He’s a foreigner and beating up a Syrian woman. From that day on I began to hate the Islamic State. It took me four months until I was able to defect.”
Mutassim was reconciled with his family, who had always urged him to leave. They paid a people smuggler to help him escape.
Turkish/Syrian border
On Turkey’s southern border, I
met the people smuggler who had helped Mutassim. Abu Jasen is from Raqqa
and knew the family well. He has smuggled hundreds of refugees and
defectors out. But how did he know that Mutassim had left his IS
sympathies behind?
It was the family connection that reassured him. “If he alone had got in touch with me, I wouldn’t have trusted it,” he says. “It could be a kid that the organization brainwashed and wanted to learn about my network. But I know the family.”
Abu Jasen speaks to Quentin:
It was the family connection that reassured him. “If he alone had got in touch with me, I wouldn’t have trusted it,” he says. “It could be a kid that the organization brainwashed and wanted to learn about my network. But I know the family.”
Abu Jasen speaks to Quentin:
Raqqa and its surrounding area is a battlefield with competing forces and dozens of checkpoints.
The stakes are high and so is the risk of capture.
The stakes are high and so is the risk of capture.
If you try to leave, you would be imprisoned - most of those who wanted to defect have been executed.”
Abu Jasen says the route is more difficult than it had been in
2014 and 2015. To reach the border, someone would have to first go through Syrian Democratic Forces - an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters opposed to IS - which has lists of names of IS recruits and are on the look out for them.
The next hurdle is to get smuggled through territory controlled by the Free Syrian Army - which is opposed to President Assad and IS.
Secretly filmed footage of a night-time crossing into Turkey, passed to the BBC, gives a taste of the type of desperate scramble Mutassim would have endured. Dodging watchtowers and floodlights, groups of Syrians make it past Turkish guard posts.
Syrians cross the border at night:
2014 and 2015. To reach the border, someone would have to first go through Syrian Democratic Forces - an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters opposed to IS - which has lists of names of IS recruits and are on the look out for them.
The next hurdle is to get smuggled through territory controlled by the Free Syrian Army - which is opposed to President Assad and IS.
Secretly filmed footage of a night-time crossing into Turkey, passed to the BBC, gives a taste of the type of desperate scramble Mutassim would have endured. Dodging watchtowers and floodlights, groups of Syrians make it past Turkish guard posts.
Syrians cross the border at night:
“They fired shots in the air
above our heads,” Mutassim says. And even though guards are paid to let
the Syrians past, it is no less terrifying.
Then it was on to Greece and a plane out of Athens with the fake passport. Today he lives in a refugee hostel in Germany. As we sat under a tree, he told me his stories, and the nightmares he cannot forget.
Then it was on to Greece and a plane out of Athens with the fake passport. Today he lives in a refugee hostel in Germany. As we sat under a tree, he told me his stories, and the nightmares he cannot forget.
Quentin interviews Mu’tassim
When your world is filled with violence, it is the strangest moments that can have the lasting effect.
For Mutassim, it was the time when he was working in the IS morgue in Raqqa, and a body sprung to life and grabbed his leg. An injured civilian who had been declared dead, was in fact, alive.
For Mutassim, it was the time when he was working in the IS morgue in Raqqa, and a body sprung to life and grabbed his leg. An injured civilian who had been declared dead, was in fact, alive.
Now I’m taking medicine that would help me forget.”
The German authorities don't
know about his past, nor do they know the startling fact that he was
able to travel from IS territory to Europe, largely undetected, in only
one month.
And that is not all. Mutassim did not come alone.
Another teenager - one who served the caliphate in Syria and in Mosul, Iraq - made his way to Belgium.
And that is not all. Mutassim did not come alone.
Another teenager - one who served the caliphate in Syria and in Mosul, Iraq - made his way to Belgium.
“They were my enemies -
now I’m living among them.”
Omar is 17 years old, but could
easily pass for younger. Until, that is, you look into his eyes. They
are weary, haunted. He plays the tough guy, and still has the swagger of
someone sent to fight for the Islamic State group.
He is living in Belgium and has already been thrown out of three refugee hostels for being unruly. He strikes you as someone who is barely getting by. It has taken months for him to fully tell his story, and amid the exaggerations, a picture of abuse emerges.
Drinking a blueberry fruit beer, he begins to open up about IS. But his answers are crafted, careful. He is full of bravado, but it soon becomes apparent that his time in IS was mostly a failure.
He, too, is from Raqqa, where he worked in a garage. He joined IS in its early days.
He is living in Belgium and has already been thrown out of three refugee hostels for being unruly. He strikes you as someone who is barely getting by. It has taken months for him to fully tell his story, and amid the exaggerations, a picture of abuse emerges.
Drinking a blueberry fruit beer, he begins to open up about IS. But his answers are crafted, careful. He is full of bravado, but it soon becomes apparent that his time in IS was mostly a failure.
He, too, is from Raqqa, where he worked in a garage. He joined IS in its early days.
All of my friends were with the organization, and I decided to join because I liked them, frankly. They had a nice reputation in the beginning, but later it changed.”
After two weeks of training in
Raqqa he was sent to Mosul, as part of an effort by IS to reinforce the
city. There he stayed in a house for a week.
“We didn’t move from that house at all, they told us not to open the door to anyone.”
Mosul was disappointing. They met other Syrians who had been in the city for more than two years.
At that time, they hadn't been on leave, he says. They have been on the frontline and all they had to eat was yoghurt, bread and dates.
“They’d spend 24 hours without any meal,” he says.
“There was no good care for the mujahedeen. I was told that during the Sharia training, the food was boiled potatoes and egg for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and sometimes olive oil with Zaatar."
Omar never quite made into the warrior he was expected to become.
IS ‘cubs’ carry guns in the streets:
“We didn’t move from that house at all, they told us not to open the door to anyone.”
Mosul was disappointing. They met other Syrians who had been in the city for more than two years.
At that time, they hadn't been on leave, he says. They have been on the frontline and all they had to eat was yoghurt, bread and dates.
“They’d spend 24 hours without any meal,” he says.
“There was no good care for the mujahedeen. I was told that during the Sharia training, the food was boiled potatoes and egg for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and sometimes olive oil with Zaatar."
Omar never quite made into the warrior he was expected to become.
IS ‘cubs’ carry guns in the streets:
He was let go from Jaysh al
Khilafa (the army of the caliphate) after failing to attend proper
induction classes. He later reapplied, this time to join the IED
(bomb-making) brigade, but was rejected.
He ended up working as an informant, a low-level street snitch, spying on Kurds, smokers, and people with unauthorized weapons. He was paid cash for every tip-off.
His days with the caliphate were coming to an end. The final straw was when an IS fighter from Algeria picked him up, accusing him of smoking. It was late at night, and the fighter forced Omar into the back of a car to rape him.
Afterwards, there was no-one for Omar to tell.
“I was so scared and he was in control, he could accuse me of anything and take me to the police station,” he says. It was then he decided it was time to leave.
Today, he keeps his past life hidden. He survives thanks to his “girlfriends” - older women who give him money.
He is not a threat to Europeans, he says, “They were my enemies and now I’m living among them, eating and drinking with them. They’ve received me and looked after me.
He ended up working as an informant, a low-level street snitch, spying on Kurds, smokers, and people with unauthorized weapons. He was paid cash for every tip-off.
His days with the caliphate were coming to an end. The final straw was when an IS fighter from Algeria picked him up, accusing him of smoking. It was late at night, and the fighter forced Omar into the back of a car to rape him.
Afterwards, there was no-one for Omar to tell.
“I was so scared and he was in control, he could accuse me of anything and take me to the police station,” he says. It was then he decided it was time to leave.
Today, he keeps his past life hidden. He survives thanks to his “girlfriends” - older women who give him money.
He is not a threat to Europeans, he says, “They were my enemies and now I’m living among them, eating and drinking with them. They’ve received me and looked after me.
I started to hate my entire past and decided to establish a new life.”
Omar poses for a photo
In the past few months, the BBC has
learned of at least three other former IS child soldiers living in
Europe. They would not agree to be interviewed. We approached the EU
police force, Europol, regarding some of the cases, but they declined to
comment.
Curriculum of hate
IS textbook: Reading - Year 5
IS not only concentrated its
attention on recruits for the battlefield, it reached deeper into
society, into the homes, classrooms, and minds of the youngest children.
As soon as they turn five, children are introduced to a vocabulary of strife and gore, school curriculum books reveal. They have become Cubs of the Caliphate and the process of turning them into holy warriors has just begun.
Its ministry of education instructed teachers to seed the “love of education” but suggested doing so by mentioning the virtues of the prophets and messengers such as “forgiveness, patience, courage, strength, reliance on Allah and the call for jihad in His name”. It also urged them to “inject zeal through fervent rhymes that terrorise the enemies of Islam”.
As soon as they turn five, children are introduced to a vocabulary of strife and gore, school curriculum books reveal. They have become Cubs of the Caliphate and the process of turning them into holy warriors has just begun.
Its ministry of education instructed teachers to seed the “love of education” but suggested doing so by mentioning the virtues of the prophets and messengers such as “forgiveness, patience, courage, strength, reliance on Allah and the call for jihad in His name”. It also urged them to “inject zeal through fervent rhymes that terrorise the enemies of Islam”.
Still from IS propaganda video
And so, the cubs would learn simple but violent rhymes glorifying jihad and death for the sake of Allah:
O nation, Allah is our Lord, Be generous with your blood. Victory can only be achieved through the blood of the martyrs.”
Just like the Hitler Youth
movement indoctrinated children to serve the Nazis’ 1000-year Reich, IS
developed a feeder apparatus to regularly inject new blood into its
veins. By the time it took full control of Raqqa in the winter of 2014
and turned it into its de-facto capital, the plan to subvert the
education system was set in motion.
Still from an IS propaganda video
The newly created education ministry
issued its first decree – music classes were banned, so were civic
education lessons, history, sports and even the Syrian state’s
curriculum for Islamic education.
In their place were IS’s own “jihadi doctrine” and “Islamic Shari’ah” booklets.
As it still lacked its own printed curriculum, the organisation used existing Syrian education books, albeit heavily censored. The decree stated:
In their place were IS’s own “jihadi doctrine” and “Islamic Shari’ah” booklets.
As it still lacked its own printed curriculum, the organisation used existing Syrian education books, albeit heavily censored. The decree stated:
Examples mentioning bank interest, democracy, elections… or Darwinism are to be deleted.”
Teachers were told to plug the
gap in deleted material by resorting to examples that “do not
contradict Shariah or Islamic State policy”.
By July 2014, Mosul had fallen and the caliphate had been declared. The rich Iraqi city, six times bigger than Raqqa, had a lot more to offer in terms of human resources and infrastructure. Now, the Islamic State had both the expertise and the assets to take on the formidable task of drafting its own curriculum from scratch.
By July 2014, Mosul had fallen and the caliphate had been declared. The rich Iraqi city, six times bigger than Raqqa, had a lot more to offer in terms of human resources and infrastructure. Now, the Islamic State had both the expertise and the assets to take on the formidable task of drafting its own curriculum from scratch.
IS textbook: History for 10-year-olds
“They started in earnest during the
fall of 2014, but the Diwan [ministry of education] had been recruiting
loyal, ideologically aligned experts all throughout that summer,”
Yousef, a Moslawi teacher who lived through that phase, told the BBC.
In primary school, religious material included texts “instigating against” non-Muslims, as well as propaganda leaflets designed for youngsters to view IS in a “positive” light.
In primary school, religious material included texts “instigating against” non-Muslims, as well as propaganda leaflets designed for youngsters to view IS in a “positive” light.
Still from an IS propaganda video
The IS curriculum was finally rolled
out for the 2015-2016 school year. Children would enrol at the age of
five and graduate at 15, shaving four full years off the traditional
school life. They would be educated in 12 various disciplines, but these
would be steeped in Islamic State’s doctrine and its world vision.
Jihad became institutionalised, the enemy was everyone beyond the
borders of the caliphate.
Even though Mosul has fallen and Raqqa, the de-facto capital, is expected to capitulate in the coming months, IS is still teaching children its curriculum of hate in several localised territories under its control in Syria.
Even though Mosul has fallen and Raqqa, the de-facto capital, is expected to capitulate in the coming months, IS is still teaching children its curriculum of hate in several localised territories under its control in Syria.
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