Children as a human shield

850 children are trapped in Ghuwayran prison amid clashes in northern Syria. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says it is concerned about children being held in a prison at the center of the recent conflict in northern Syria. The safety of children, some as young as 12, is at "serious" risk.

As the war continues, the risk to children, including being injured or being conscripted by ISIL forces, increases. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said ISIL militants were being held in a dormitory where hundreds of children had been detained for alleged links to ISIL.

ISIL terrorists inside the prison may use these children as hostages and security shields. With the siege of the prison by the democratic forces, the ISIL forces inside the prison gates can no longer escape, so children in the middle of the war may be used as human shields, or as an offensive force.

ISIL had a strategy of forcibly recruiting children, including children who had been abducted and training them to carry out suicide bombings or kill prisoners. These children, whom ISIL calls the children of the Caliphate, are being held in Kurdish prisons in northeastern Syria, along with thousands of ISIL fighters from more than 50 countries.

Ghuwayran Prison held more than 3,500 ISIL prisoners. Hundreds of them have fled during ISIL attacks, and efforts are underway to retake them. So far, more than 200 people have been killed on both sides, and the war continues. The clashes have displaced tens of thousands of people in and around Hasakah.

 

_{Source and Credit: CNN, BBC, UNICEF}