BEIRUT: More than 50 child soldiers recruited by the Islamic State group in Syria have been killed since the beginning of this year, a monitoring group said Wednesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 52 child soldiers, all under the age of 16, who had been part of IS's "Cubs of the Caliphate" program.
The programme provides intense military and religious training to children throughout IS's areas of control in Syria, the Britain-based Observatory said.
As many as 31 were killed in July alone, in explosions, clashes, and air strikes by Syria's regime and the US-led coalition.
The child soldiers are used to man checkpoints or gather intelligence from areas outside IS control, but IS has been increasingly using them to execute prisoners or conduct suicide attacks.
So far this year, IS has used eight children as suicide bombers, most recently in its fight against Kurdish militia in northeastern Syria.
AFP
