"Terror schools" in Syria, run by the Islamic State, are teaching children as young as five to become soldiers and suicide bombers, an anti-ISIS campaign group has revealed.
Training camps at al-Sharea school in Raqqa, the de facto Islamic State capital, have attracted the attendance of more than 300 children, who have either been kidnapped or willingly sent by parents to learn the teachings of the terrorist organization, the Express reports.
The anti-ISIS group, known as "'Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently," has posted images showing children brandishing assault rifles, training on assault courses and posing with and saluting the Islamic State flag.
In the schools, children are forced to repeatedly chant that Western infidels are meant to be killed and are questioned on whether they would like to be a jihadi fighter or a suicide bomber, Breitbart reported.
"The recruitment camps have been established by ISIS as an attempt to brainwash the minors and promote extremism among the young generations in order to create an army of loyal followers," a spokesman for Raqqa Is Being Silently Slaughtered told the Sun.
"ISIS has recently stepped up its youth recruitment, a sort of boot camp for young boys in which they are taught combat skills."
"The group persuades parents to send their kids in exchange for sums of money, taking advantage of their need, in the midst of dire living conditions and widespread poverty," he added.
"However, not all youth recruitment carried out by ISIS is voluntary. In some cases young boys are taken to boot camps without parental consent."
After being recruited at mosques and given a 45-day course of intense training at various camps, the boys are sent to learn combat training for a month, according to sources.
While most head straight to the front lines after that, others are allotted to guard checkpoints, according to Breitbart.
"Many of these boys are time bombs waiting to go off," the spokesman said.
According to several media reports, some children have already started participating in the battle against Kurdish forces in the border town of Kobane, with at least 30 killed this month, including a teenage suicide bomber.
