April 26, 2007

African Taliban Child Abuse: 10 Year Old Fighting in Mogadishu

somali_child_fighting_10.jpg

According to a website affiliated with the al Qaeda linked Somali Islamic Courts Union, the above picture is of a "10yr old Mujahid takes part in the fighting around Kaah Hotel" in Mogadishu.

Unlike most pictures of Muslim children carrying guns as a symbol of a future jihadi, this one is actually using the weapon. And unlike me, who is disgusted by the image, the website praises the child for "resisting the Tigree [Ethiopian Christians]".

"Shabelle" is a Somali news service. Shabelle captions it "A 10 year-old Somali Islamist boy aims his AK 47 rifle at an Ethiopian military base nearby in North of the capital on Monday."

Just to show that the image wasn't staged, a second image of the boy with two others is captioned: "Three Somali Islamist insurgents, including a 10 year-old boy, are busy unfolding their PKM ammunitions behind a building wall in north of the capital on Monday April 23, 2007."

UPDATE: Just to clarify, I found the image posted at an African Courts Union website, not at Shabelle. It is the African Courts Union that has ties to al Qaeda. I later found the original at Shabelle.

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 09:05 AM | |