Group has recruited 400 children since January

onnaedo

March 24, 2015 6:23 PM

The children, all under 18, have been reportedly given the "Cubs of the Caliphate" military training and hardline indoctrination.

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Terrorist group, the Islamic State also known as ISIS has recruited no fewer than 400 children since January, new agency, Reuters reports.

According to the the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the children were recruited near schools, mosques and in public areas where Islamic State carries out killings and brutal punishments on local people.

One such young boy appeared in a video early this month shooting dead an Israeli Arab accused by ISIS of being a spy.

A French police source said the boy might be the half-brother of Mohamed Merah, who killed 3 soldiers, a rabbi and 3 Jewish children in Toulouse in 2012.

According to Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based Observatory, ISIS uses children because it is easy to brainwash them and they can be built into what they want.

He also said the group may be resorting to children because it has been having difficulties recruiting adults since the start of the year, with only 120 joining its ranks.

Reports say the children learn to fire live ammunition, fight in battles and to drive at the ISIS training camps. They are also used as informants and as guards for its headquarters.

In addition, the group also welcomes children with birth defects into its ranks.

onnaedo