A “Doctrine Generation” in Training: Uncovering Organized Child Recruitment Networks in Syria

Documents and field monitoring reports obtained by the “Middle East Center for Security Studies and Counter-Extremism” reveal a complex and organized network for child recruitment in Syria, operating under institutional and religious cover. Data documented with photos, coordinates, and names indicate that these operations aim to build a “future combat core” by integrating children and adolescents into closed camps and training programs characterized by extremist ideological and military indoctrination.

The Strategy of “Dual Framing”

According to the files, recruitment is not limited to physical training; it extends to systematic “ideological brainwashing.” These networks rely on two main tracks:

1. The Internal Track: Targeting children in Sharia schools and the children of fighters killed in previous battles (such as those in Yarmouk Camp and southern Damascus).

2. The External Track: Receiving families arriving from Europe, where they are provided with housing, and their original documents are seized and replaced with Syrian documents to conceal their true identities before the children are transferred to closed training camps.

Training Sites and Supervision Structure

The reports identify specific geographic locations that serve as hubs for this activity, operating under the direct supervision of entities linked to the structure of “Ahmad al-Sharaa’s” (al-Julani) government and the Ministries of Defense and Interior:

• Damascus: The vicinity of the “New Republican Guard” command, where dozens of children have undergone training in the use of weapons and suicide operations.

• Rural Daraa: The Sharia school supervised by the “40th Division,” which acts as a front for combat training and urban warfare.

• Qalamoun: Closed camps that were previously military sites, which have been repurposed to host recruits after being transported by private buses.

• Idlib: Centers presented as “sports clubs” or “cub” (Ashbal) programs, which are, in essence, ideological mobilization environments led by trainers such as “Yahya Darouzi,” utilizing jihadist symbols and inflammatory rhetoric to attract minors.

Responsible Commanders

The files reveal specific names overseeing this file and managing its operations:

• Brigadier General Abdul Rahman Hussein al-Khatib (Abu Hussein al-Urduni): Commander of the “New Republican Guard.” He is a key figure with ties to jihadist organizations and armed factions, and is identified as the direct supervisor of child training in Damascus.

• Colonel Bunyan al-Hariri: The officer overseeing child training at the Sharia school in rural Daraa under the 40th Division’s courses.

• Adi Bajbouj: A field trainer affiliated with the 40th Division, documented in footage supervising the training of children in combat tactics and urban warfare.

Objectives Beyond Stated Claims

The report concludes that the purpose of these courses is not limited to the slogans touted by their operators under the guise of “physical education” or “rehabilitation,” but extends to dangerous security and ideological agendas, most notably:

1. Hostile Ideological Mobilization: Mentally and emotionally radicalizing children against specific targets (Jews and the State of Israel, religious minorities, and Christian areas) to ensure they adopt extremist ideology from an early age.

2. Building a Combat Core: Turning children into long-term human assets, ensuring their loyalty to the organization and the supervising entity supersedes any national or civic belonging, in preparation for their use in armed conflicts.

3. Reproducing the Jihadist Environment: Capitalizing on the family legacy of the children of former fighters to ensure the continuity of extremist ideology across successive generations.

4. Institutional Cover: Concealing illegal combat activities under the guise of “Sharia schools” or “rehabilitation clubs” to ensure ease of movement and avoid legal accountability.

The documented facts prove that child recruitment in Syria is not an isolated phenomenon, but a structural policy based on a direct partnership between the entities running these camps and official state institutions. The supervision of training centers by the Ministries of Defense and Interior, and the transformation of Sharia schools into fronts for combat training, confirm that the “militarization of children” is not a parallel activity, but a strategic choice adopted by the state and the government to ensure the continuity of its striking force. This official involvement places Syria before a permanent security challenge, as state institutions are harnessed to brainwash minors and adapt them to serve endless combat agendas, ensuring the entrenchment of extremism as an inseparable part of the current Syrian landscape.