The Latest ISIS Video Features an Alleged American Child Soldier

Bryan Michalek | August 25, 2017
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ISIS has released a new propaganda video online featuring an alleged 10-year-old American boy, in which the child promotes the fight against the West and threatens President Trump by name.

The child in the video identifies himself as Yousef and claims to be the son of a United States veteran who served during the Iraq War, claiming, "My father's an American soldier who fought the Mujahideen in Iraq."   

Yousef goes on to say that he and his mother had moved to the caliphate, where he is completing militant training amidst the shelling campaign against Raqqa, Iraq. While Yousef does speak some Arabic in the video, he speaks in clear, unaccented English for the majority of the film.

"My message to Trump, the puppet of the Jews, Allah promised us victory and promised you defeat. This battle is not going to end in Raqqa or Mosul; it is going to end in your lands. So get ready because the fighting has just begun," he says.

CBS News obtained a statement from State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, who said the government could not confirm whether the boy is actually a U.S. citizen. In addition to Yousef, the video shows his friend, a Yazidi Muslim who claims that he was taken in by militants after they "liberated" his border town of Sinjar.

The video is the first ISIS video message featuring an alleged American child as its main speaker. But unfortunately, their use of children is not a new tactic. Reports of children being indoctrinated into the terrorist group are becoming more and more common as Iraqi forces take more territory back. 

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