Security Alert: Terror Children To Be Used Against Western Targets?

By Cristina C. Giancchini

Hamas trains children in terror summer camps. ISIS is mass producing and training children to maim, kill and behead their targets. Boko Haram (BH) is increasingly using children as suicide bombers. This 'new' trend is extremely ominous when we think that training children to kill may have a broader meaning within the context of Global Jihad. So what does this mean to the West, and beyond?

NGOs, and 'humanitarian' groups, usually say that children working on behalf of Hamas, ISIS or BH are not perpetrators but victims. Their opinion is understandable but it is meaningless in terms of security when these very young people perpetrate crimes against populations. If they perpetrate, they are perpetrators. Nevertheless, whether or not they are responsible for having become junior terrorists that is a whole different debate, one that goes beyond the purpose of this note.

There Are No Coincidences

Europe, America and basically the whole world funds the Palestinian Cause. As this Blog has already demonstrated, there are strong indications of a deep link between Global Jihad and Palestine – meaning that Europe, America and the rest of world fund terrorist attacks against themselves. One can always argue that the globe funds the PA, for nation building; however the Palestinian Authority applies those funds to terror as well – through campaigns of hatred and incitement on state-run television, radio, press and Social Media; through the payment of salaries to the families of terrorists (the so-called Shahids [Martyrs]); and through an ambiguous relationship with Hamas elements in the Gaza Strip, who most certainly participate in rocket launching activities - with the code name 'resistance to occupation'.

Hamas keeps boot-camps for children. They often explain to the foreign press they are training soldiers to fight against the 'occupation forces' but the most recent Terror Wave, in Israel, has shown that these very young terrorists have been trained to attack Jews; and since this Blog has also demonstrated that what starts in Israel is soon exported elsewhere, it comes as no surprise that ISIS and BH have stepped up the use of children in their terror activities.

Clashing Values

Most of the world values the life of a child. Whenever a picture of small children is shown to most, people tend to respond with care, tenderness etc. In other words, our values compel us to take care of and protect children – a reason why the Media quickly exploits our sensitivities towards infants when they report events.

Another interesting detail: most of the world believes children are incapable of harming others as they associate them with innocence, purity, peace. Therefore, in the mind of terrorists, using them as highly trained instruments of terror is practical since they can operate unsuspectedly.

Security Implications

A child can easily place a bomb without being seen. A child can carry an IED in her small and cute backpack without suspicion. A child can also inject a toxin without being noticed and can also stab an adult when properly trained. A much daunting scenario is a child assembling a gun in any given location, leaving it ready for use to another cell-member. In extremis, children can be used as suicide bombers in public events, the same way they are used in Nigeria.

The use of children for terrorist purposes, as painful and shocking as it may sound, must be taken into consideration during our investigations – particularly when the most prevalent kinds of migrants coming to Europe, and other countries, are military-aged-males (62%) and children - being women in very small numbers, though even they are now increasingly used to carry out terror attacks.

Better safe than sorry.

"Palestinian children simulated murdering Israelis while participating in a cultural festival in the Gaza Strip" (IPT)


[The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dissecting Society]