Al-Qaeda Trains Boys to Fight

New video shows 'the next generation of mujahedeen"
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 6, 2008 4:34 PM CST
Al-Qaeda Trains Boys to Fight
U.S. Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, left, director of the Multi-National Force-Iraq's Communication Division, and Iraqi defense official Mohammed al-Askari watch a video on a screen during a press conference Feb. 6, 2008, in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Sabah Arar-Pool/Getty Images)   (Getty Images)

Al-Qaeda is training young Iraqi boys to become gunmen and kidnappers, the US military alleges. The military released a video that shows boys in face masks brandishing grenade launchers and guns and harassing Iraqi citizens, CNN reports. In one scene, a boy wears a suicide vest. "Al-Qaeda wants to poison the next generation of Iraqis," said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith.

"Al-Qaeda often refers to the children as the new generation of the mujahedeen," said Smith. "We've also seen evidence of al-Qaeda entering schools and disseminating propaganda.” The military seized the footage during a raid on the residence of a senior member of al-Qaeda in Iraq. (More al-Qaeda stories.)

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