Shocking revelations have emerged of child soldiers being used to fight the deadly war in Syria which has already claimed thousand of lives.
Photos show a 4-year-old boy standing behind an AK-47 as he fires two shots amid shouts of ‘Allahu Akbar’
The young boy is believed to be part of a group of terrorists known as ‘Cub jihadists’
Daily Mail reports:
Counter-terrorism officials say it is further evidence of how jihadists are grooming children to become fighters, as Al Qaeda factions strive to establish a Taliban-like Islamic state in Syria.
The disturbing footage was posted on YouTube and is believed to be that of a son of a jihadist from Albania who is one of thousands of foreigners fighting with Al Qaeda in Syria.
The youngster, who wears a black ski mask, can be seen firing shots from a black AK-47-style
automatic assault rifle with a folding stock.
He is so small that the barrel of the gun has to be supported by a section of road block so that he can cope with its weight.
The child opens fire to shouts of Allahu Akbar – Arabic for ‘God is Greater’ – before an arm reaches down and retrieves the weapon.
FOUR-YEAR-OLD firing an assault rifle in Syria
The footage was removed after it was exposed by an American-based ‘anti-jihad’ activist who claimed it was evidence of child abuse.
Copies of the video, however, remained in circulation on other online channels.
Suspected British Al Qaeda fighters in Syria have been circulating other images showing children being trained to use deadly weapons in a jihad training camp.