ISIS's Newest Recruit Is 10 Years Old

What can I say? Read on at The Daily Beast

Much to the horror of the city’s adults, children carrying guns are increasingly common in Mosul’s streets. Meet ISIS’s youngest recruit.

MOSUL, Iraq -- It was a surprising sight. The customers standing in Haj Hamdoun’s store in central Mosul watched as a masked child came into the shop, bought what he wanted without saying a word and then left again, carrying a bag containing candies and milk in one hand and a heavy machine gun, which was just about as big as him, in the other.

This was Abdullah, who appears to be the city’s youngest volunteer with the Sunni extremist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, that took control of Mosul over two weeks ago.

Abdullah is not yet 11 years old. But his older brother and his father, who was a senior member of ISIS, were killed in fighting between the group and Iraqi security forces in 2013. That’s why Abdullah joined ISIS, although he is far from the only child in its ranks.

The storeowner, Hamdoun, says he has actually grown used to seeing Abdullah wandering around, carrying his big gun with both pride and difficulty. He has also seen the boy on guard duty together with other ISIS fighters in front of the new ISIS headquarters in Mosul, which originally was the home of a government official.

A curious bystander wanted to start a conversation with Abdullah. “I have a son your age, but he’s not eager to carry arms,” the man said. “He spends most of his time on the computer.”

A tall, overweight gunman, who seemed to be responsible for the child, answered on Abdullah’s behalf. “Our children don’t waste time on electronic games or on watching cartoons,” he said. “They have a dream and their dream is to establish an Islamic state.”

The gunman patted Abdullah’s shoulder. “We have a lot of hope for Abdullah and other children his age,” the gunman continued. “We believe they will conquer all of Iraq and Persia and that they will liberate Jerusalem.”

Abdullah may be the youngest volunteer with ISIS but other children and teenagers also have become enthusiastic about bearing arms for the extremist group in Mosul. As soon as ISIS arrived here, it began to attract new members, aged anywhere between 10 and 30, who were drawn to the glamour of the group’s obvious power and the adventure of joining such a well-armed gang.

Although estimates vary, the number of ISIS gunmen who eventually took control of Mosul was certainly not more than 4,000. So they need more recruits, both to control the territories they have and to join the fight on other fronts within Iraq.

This appetite to join ISIS has become a source of concern for Mosul’s families. Locals are only too well aware that many of those now controlling their city are young people who only volunteered to join ISIS several days ago, and that many of them are new to the weapons they carry.

Locals also know that ISIS needs more fighters in places like Tikrit, Anbar, Diyala and towards Kirkuk.

Despite that obvious need for more recruits, ISIS does have certain rules for membership, and the image of exclusivity is part of its mystique.

Firstly, the volunteers must be willing to obey their ISIS leader even if his orders may result in their death. Those who do not obey orders or those who retreat will be considered “apostates,” for which the penalty is death.