Iraq

Educated in Terror: Deprogramming the Children ISIS Taught to Kill

"The teachers at school taught us how to hold a Kalashnikov, how to shoot and kill"

One feature of the brutal life under ISIS rule was the creation of schools and mosques that let the terror group inject its ideology into a new generation, one that's now scattered across Iraq in refugee camps, NBC News reported.

"When Daesh came, they taught us how to be suicide bombers and make IEDs," said a tearful Atallah Saleh, 15, in a camp south of Mosul. "They distributed books about their propaganda. The teachers at school taught us how to hold a Kalashnikov, how to shoot and kill, how to become a suicide bomber and fight the jihad."

While ISIS is likely on its way out of Iraq, local leaders worry that the conditions that Atallah's generation face in sometimes inhumane or unsafe refugee camps could fuel an ISIS resurgence in several years.

"When a chicken lays eggs, and then the chicken dies, the eggs stay and turn into new chickens," said Qassem Maslah, a militia brigade commander who has been fighting ISIS.

At At the Hammam al-Alil camp, where Atallah now lives, teachers are trying to undo ISIS' influence and dealing with the deep trauma the kids were left with.

Contact Us