Stolen Innocence – Child Soldiers of the Islamic State

Abstract

By using child soldiers, we can recognise the new face of terrorism. The Islamic State, which holds a significant part of Syrian and Iraqi territories, gives a new interpretation of the phenomenon by not only intending to strengthen its present position with the involvement of the children, but also in pursuing its long-term goals – the expansion of the Caliphate – in mind. Ensuring its effectiveness is only possible if the organisation not only survives, but can also prepare his future generation. The main tool for this is to recruit the children so that, after appropriate mental, psychological and physical training, a future, loyal and self-sacrificing army can be organised, which further propagate the ideology of the Islamic State even if the current form of the terrorist organisation is extinct.