Many colours of jihad: Tales of children and teens recruited by Islamic State

Islamic State’s ability to radicalise and recruit despite being physically restricted to a swathe of land in Syria and Iraq has presented a unique problem for world leaders who are increasingly realising that preventing new recruits is tricky business. The Google employee arrested in Hyderabad, allegedly on his way to join the Islamic State, has prompted the question: What happens when these recruits, from different countries across the world with valid citizenship and passports, return to their home countries? Islamic State recruited at least 6,300 men in July, Rami Abdelrahman, founder of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters - a big expansion from early estimates suggesting the group numbered around 15,000. Around a thousand of the new fighters were foreign and the rest Syrian, he said. Reuters also reported recently that some “450 people have travelled from Germany to join the radical Islamist fighters” in Syria. And The Telegraph reported: “In February, intelligence services said at least 130 Canadians were fighting with IS in Iraq and Syria.” [caption id=“attachment_1780571” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube shows the spokesman for the Islamic State spokesman, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani al-Shami, speaking at an undisclosed location. AFP[/caption] Some of the recruits have, somewhat surprisingly, been teenagers. Firstpost collated a few of their stories to put in clearer perspective the questions Islamic State is raising about how young people are becoming radicalised and how some of them end up condemned by choices they have not fully understood. “We will serve Allah. And we will die for him”: The tale of the two pregnant girls Two girls, Samra Kesinovic, 17, and her friend Sabina Selimovic, 15, seemed determined when they left for Syria. The Mirror reports, the Bosnian migrants in Vienna became the poster girls for the Islamic State. “They are thought to have travelled to Turkey and then to have crossed the border into Syria, having become radicalised after attending a local mosque in Vienna and reading about jihad on the internet,” The Telegraph reported. But it didn’t last for long. The girls allegedly got in touch with their parents, saying they had had enough and wanted to come back. Married off to Islamic State fighters, one or both teenagers were purportedly pregnant. While one of them may have been killed, neither has been heard from, except for their plea to come home, the Mirror reported. The Jewish Girl; the two friends and their first ever time flying Such is the Islamic State’s ability to recruit that a French Jewish girl defied her beliefs as she took off to the join the radical militant group. She is just one of the frightening number of women from France who are leaving to go to Syria or Iraq, declaring jihad, reports the Times of Israel. So far a 100 women have left France to join Islamic State, including two other girls, named Sahra and Nora who The Times of Israel reports, had never “ever set foot on an airplane before. Yet both journeys were planned with the precision of a seasoned traveler and expert in deception, from Sahra’s ticket for the March 11 Marseille-Istanbul flight to Nora’s secret Facebook account and overnight crash pad in Paris…" On the threshold of teenage: Islamic State’s youngest recruit Son of a shopkeeper from Morocco, Younes Abaaound lived in Belgium with his family, had travelled around Syria with his 27-year-old brother, the Times of India reported. What may come as a surprise though, is that Younes is just 13. Huffington Post reported, Younes’ decision to join the Islamic State was confirmed by a shocking photo of the teenager holding a large automatic weapon in his hands, flashing a victory sign. While it sent social media in to a tizzy, European authorities have been scrambling since to prevent more child recruits.

Threatening Tony Abbott from the banks of Tigris “We will strike the necks of the infidel and Arab countries,” yells out a 17-year-old Australian Abdullah Elmir, from Sydney. But Sydney is a far away dream now. Standing on the banks of the river Tigris, in Nineveh province of Iraq, the boy threatens Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in a six-minute video, clutching an AK-47 rifle. [caption id=“attachment_1780575” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Islamic State fighters in a recent video. AFP[/caption] “The teenager went missing in June, saying he was going fishing, but told his family shortly afterwards he was in Turkey and about to ‘cross the border’,” the Guardian reported. **Kalyan boy's short stay in the Caliphate** Arif Majeed lived in Kalyan, with his parents and looked and acted like any other 21-year-old. Not too long ago, his parents received an anonymous call, telling them their son was dead, fighting in Mosul, Islamic State’s stronghold in Iraq, Firstpost had reported. Killed in an explosion, Arif had left with three others from Mumbai to join the Islamic State in Iraq when the group’s advances outside of Syria brought it to mainstream attention in July. Criticising his family for their lifestyles, he left to fight for the caliphate. The three other’s who left with him haven’t been heard from since.