ISIS continues to abduct children and train them as jihadists. While some of the children submit to the brutal training of the terrorist group, there are those who do not.
CNN tells the story of 11-year-old Nouri, a child fighter in training who was fortunate enough to leave ISIS training camps. The young boy says that ISIS fighters tortured him by breaking his leg in three places when he refused to be trained as a part of the militant group.
"They asked us to come with them for the training. At first we refused to go because we were afraid," said Nouri to CNN. "They asked me to go to the mountain and I refused again, then they broke my leg. That saved me. The other children were taken by force."
After his leg healed and his walk reduced to a limp, ISIS fighters deemed him useless and called his grandmother to come and pick him up. Nouri, who is from Tel Aafar in North Iraq, was abducted from his family and taken into ISIS camps.
Nouri's younger brother Saman was also released, but has now been traumatised by the experience of being beaten continuously by ISIS figthers. 5-year-old Saman now experiences seizures and intense nightmares because of the ordeal. With Nouri's parents and another sibling are still in the hands of ISIS to this day, the siblings now live with their grandparents.
According to The Gospel Herald, there are over 600 children who are abducted by ISIS today. Of that number, one-third have been released or have managed to escape alive. Now the priority is restoring the psychological and emotional well-being of these children. There are also those that require medical care.
According to Nouri's grandmother Gowra Khalaf, the liberated boys now live a life secluded from reality. "He doesn't really go anywhere. Just sits in the tent close to me," Khalif shared with CNN.
ISIS continues to abduct and train child fighters for the group, forcing them to carry weapons, execute innocent people and beat them up during training.
