A tribal leader in Anbar province said the Islamic State, or ISIS, is actively trying to lure local children into its ranks as suicide bombers and has asked Baghdad to take action against the extremist group.
“The Islamic State entered many areas of Anbar and started recruiting children from the local tribes of Anbar. They have camps in Raqqa and Hiit where they train them," Sheikh Khalid Awad al-Shabani told Rudaw on Tuesday.
"We ask the government to expedite the process of liberating the areas under ISIS control and destroy the camps that recruit children,” he added.
The sheikh also stressed that the extremists' radical interpretation of Sunni Islam was not welcomed in Sunni-majority Anbar province.
“We all know that extremist ideology of ISIS is not related to Islam. They make up verses that do not exist in the Quran,” he added,
According to the sheikh, ISIS brainwashes the newly recruited children in their camps in Rutbah and al-Qaem in Iraq and teaches them how to carry out suicide attacks against military checkpoints and civilians.
“The government has the responsibility to direct the parents to prevent their children from joining ISIS. The government should use all its forces in order to prevent recruiting children," Shabani said
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