ISIL Resumes Training Child Militias in US-Established Safe Zone in Syria

Rasa - The ISIL terrorist group has restarted training children for war and suicide operations in a region protected by the US and its allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Deir Ezzur in Southeastern Syria, an Arab media outlet disclosed on Thursday.

News ID: 436957

Date: 22 March 2018 - 21:51

RNA - The Arabic-language al-Manar news website quoted sources affiliated to the Syrian government's armed opposition as saying that the ISIL has again set up a military base to train what it calls 'The Caliphate's Lion Cubs' in Southeastern Deir Ezzur near the border with Iraq.

Numerous reports have said in recent months that the ISIL is recruiting again in Syria with the US help to attack the Syrian army positions in Deir Ezzur and destabilize the country.

Al-Manar said the child militias training center has been set up under the supervision of the former commander of ISIL bases in Raqqa, Abu Mohammed al-Fransi, adding that a large number of Syrian and foreign children have been recruited in there.

Meantime, Alexander Ivanov, the spokesman of Russia's airbase at Humeimim, said that "real evidence" indicates that the ISIL will resume operations with the support of certain regional and trans-regional states.

The revelation came as The ISIL is reportedly readying to strike back at the Syrian army in Eastern Deir Ezzur after the US-backed SDF declared an end to offensives on the terrorist group and as the American military is widening build-up in the region.

The Arabic-language al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday that the ISIL is using the de-escalation zones created by the US-led coalition with full protection from Syrian and Russian attacks to reorganize to launch fresh attacks on the Syrian army on the Western banks of the Euphrates river in a bid to return to its former bases in Bu al-Kamal and al-Mayadeen.

The Lebanese paper added that the US-Kurdish halt in operations against the ISIL has already led to ISIL's reinforcement in Eastern Deir Ezzur near the borders with Iraq, noting that the US had practically stopped its operations in the region ever since it occupied oil and gas fields on Eastern Euphrates but it made official declaration about the halt on during the recent events in Afrin.

Meantime, the ISIL has discharged most of its Syrian and Iraqi military commanders and replaced them with foreigners who enjoy the most influence on the locals that have surrendered themselves to the American forces.

The Kurds had also earlier announced that they would halt military operations against the ISIL on Eastern Euphrates to send more forces to Afrin to defend the town against the Turkish army and the Ankara-backed militants.

Field sources said on Tuesday that the US had established a new base in Southeastern Deir Ezzur and dispatched weapons and military equipment to the region as Russia warned of American forces' possible attack on Syrian army positions.

The sources said that the US forces have built a new and advanced military base in al-Omar oilfield in Southeastern Deir Ezzur, adding that they have also transferred a large volume of arms and equipment, including missiles, military vehicles and bridge equipment to the regions of their deployment in Koniko oilfield, al-Omar oilfield and al-Jafreh.

A little boy who was forcefully been trained by the ISIL in the so-called “lion cubs" camps disclosed in 2016 that the terrorist group has transferred hundreds of Iraqi children to Syria before leaving the Eastern districts of Mosul.

According to Fars News Agancy, the Iraqi boy who has managed to flee from the ISIL's notorious camps said children are forcefully taken to the terrorist group's camps and are even forced to kill their own family members there.

He added that the ISIL takes children to military camps and severely punishes their parents if faced with their opposition.

"The ISIL militants make children in lion cubs camps to undergo difficult trainings that even adults cannot bear, including smashing a piece of wood on their bellies and breaking bricks on their heads," the child said on the condition of anonymity for the fear of his life.

He added that the ISIL sends the children to the front lines and even forces them to kill their family members, saying that a number of children have also practiced execution and beheading.

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