The Lion Cubs, also known as Ashbal, are child soldiers in the Middle East.

Lion Cubs – Al Qaeda

The Ashbal Al Qaeda Lion Cubs of

Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

have appeared in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, and places in between.

Lion Cubs – Saddam Hussein

Since 1991,

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

's Ashbal child soldiers in

employed training techniques intended to desensitize the youth to violence, including frequent beatings and deliberate cruelty to animals. The exact numbers of the ''Ashbal Saddam'' were not known, but there were an estimated 8,000 members in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

alone.

Lion Cubs – Lebanon

Ashbal in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

since spring 1969 have been led by Palestinian Arab leaders like

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

, A. Shukairy and George Habash, who initially dubbed them 'baby tigers' and were active in the 1970s and 1980s. Some were as young as eight years of age. The boys were taught to dismantle, clean and reassemble rifles, pistols and machine guns and are allowed to fire live ammunition. They underwent a Mau Mau-like hardening course in which each boy was required to tear apart a live chicken to develop a lust for killing. Chants which these children, termed 'junior terrorists', had to learn and repeat included: "Oh Zionists, do you think you are safe? Drinking blood is the habit of our men" and "We are from Fatah! We have come to kill you all!"

Lion Cubs – ISIS

The Cubs of the Caliphate is a programme by the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

to recruit and train child soldiers between the ages of 10 and 15.

References

{{reflist Factions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Child soldiers 2017 disestablishments in Syria 2014 establishments in Syria Military units and formations established in 2014 Military units and formations disestablished in 2017

Lion Cubs – Al Qaeda

Lion Cubs – Saddam Hussein

Lion Cubs – Lebanon

Lion Cubs – ISIS

See also

References