Iraqi law enforcement officials take off a suicide vest from a boy in Kirkuk, Iraq, August 21, 2016.
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Organizations for children’s rights have reported that in most cases children are not aware of what it is going to be their actual destiny when they are asked to put bombs in their bodies or when they are asked to fight against the enemy. 51 people were murdered in this bombing.
It has led to fears children are increasingly being used by ISIS to carry out deadly attacks. A policeman then succeeds in removing the vest, while two officers drag the boy to a safer place, before detonating the belt. No group has been defined yet as the author of the thwarted attack, although the authorities suspect that it was planned by the Islamic State.
Iraqi Kurdish forces say they have captured a young boy wearing a suicide explosive vest who was sent to blow up a Shi’ite mosque in Kirkuk, in the north of the country, broadcaster Rudaw reports, releasing a video of the incident.
Children are increasingly being used by terrorist groups across the world. The incident came just hours after the brutal attack on the wedding in Gaziantep.
There have been numerous cases of states too using children in martyrdom operations, not least in Iran during its eight year war with Iraq. A bomber – believed be a teenager – detonated his explosives as officials were handing out trophies to players after the tournament, killing 29 and wounding 60. The bomb was eventually detonated remotely, making for a chilling visual that recalled the destruction which would have been caused had the suicide bomber reached his intended target.
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Human Rights Watch has said that ISIS and other extremist groups “have specifically recruited children through free schooling campaigns that include weapons training and have given them unsafe tasks, including suicide bombing missions”. UNICEF said that three quarters of child suicide bombers had been girls.
