ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Different jihadi groups fighting the Syrian government have been increasingly recruiting children soldiers as the conflict sweeps the war-torn country for the sixth year. Since the Al-Qaeda franchise in Syria, Jabhet al-Nusra, established itself in Syria in January 2012, child recruitment has become more widely practiced, and even got wider and more organized with the emergence of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2013. The two ultraconservative groups created training camps for children where they are brainwashed and instilled with Takfiri ideology to become jihadi fighters and suicide bombers. The process significantly increased with the Nusra-led Jaish al-Fateh taking over the northwestern province of Idlib in May 2015. Analysts identify the notorious Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Muhesini as the godfather of recruiting children soldiers in rebel-held territories, especially Idlib. In 2013, al-Muhesini launched his wide-scale recruiting campaign in Idlib (which later expanded to ...

Aleppo, Syria (12:10 P.M.) - The Russian Marines have replaced the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) along the Castillo Highway in northern Aleppo after the ceasefire agreement took effect last night. Initially, a member of the Syrian Arab Army's "Tiger Forces" told Al-Masdar News that their units did not receive any instructions regarding their withdrawal from the Castillo Highway. However, on Monday, the Syrian Arab Army's High Command instructed the Tiger Forces to withdraw 1km north of the Castillo Highway in order to allow the Russian Marines to facilitate a humanitarian corridor along this roadway.

If the truce holds for a week, the US and Russia will form an unprecedented military partnership that will control airstrikes targeting Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra Syrian President Bashar al-Assad walking in a damaged Damascus suburb ahead of morning Eid Al-Adha prayers just hours ahead of the start of a ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia. AP A ceasefire began at sunset aimed at ending the five-year long civil war in Syria that has killed over a quarter of a million Syrians and forced five million more to flee the country. Under an agreement between the US and Russia, the initial truce will last seven days, during which time UN convoys will bring aid to besieged districts and Syrian government bombing of civilian areas will stop. The Syrian army said a seven-day “calm” would be applied across Syria from 7pm on Monday, but it reserved the right to respond decisively “using all forms of fire to any violation by the arm