Chilling images show new ISIS terrorist school in Syria

Chilling new images have emerged from inside Islamic State-run terrorist training schools in Syria, showing child soldiers being trained to kill using assault rifles.

Dubbed 'Caliphate Cubs', the children appear little more than 10 years old and are dressed in full combat gear as they struggle to hold weapons while standing in front of ISIS' infamous black flag.

The photographs were released by official Islamic State media over the weekend and apparently show a recently-opened school close to Damascus - the Assad regime-held capital of Syria where other preteen training camps are known have been operating in recent months.

The photographs taken near the Syrian capital Damascus and released by Islamic State terrorists show young children wearing masks and camouflaged military fatigues as they are trained to use AK47 assault rifles and carry out military drills.

The high quality photographs were released on ISIS' favoured anonymous file sharing website JustPaste.it over the weekend, and appear to be still images taken from an as-yet unreleased edition of the terror group's many professionally shot propaganda videos.

In one photograph a large group of masked and armed child soldiers crowd around a minibus decorated with the ISIS flag, holding their guns aloft and striking poses bearing a striking resemblance to the terror group's executioner in chief - the British militant known as Jihadi John.

Another image shows a fair-skinned boy being handed a massive AK47 assault rifle by a grey-bearded ISIS general as he stands in formation alongside other young child soldiers.

Other shots from the propaganda release show the children performing fitness tests and military drills designed to train them for the harsh realities of the frontline.

In a clear display of ISIS' callous attitude towards the use of child soldiers, one photograph from the terror group's latest media release shows two bearded adult militants laughing and leaning against a lorry while a group of young boys are forced to carry out military exercises in front of them.

Other shots show the heavily armed boys carrying their weapons inside what appears to be a mosque, where there appear to be taking instructions on how to use an AK47 from another masked militant, who stands in front of what looks like a minbar - a type of pulpit used by Islamic preachers.

In much the same way as the Nazi Germany preyed on its impressionable young citizens with the creation of the Hitler Youth, ISIS has long groomed children to take part in jihad.

The practice was the subject of the second episode of VICE's groundbreaking 'Islamic State' documentary series, in which very young boys were seen being asked whether they want to be a suicide bomber or a jihadist, and were forced to repeat calls for the murder of Western 'infidels'.

(dailymail.co.uk)