The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), September 1, 2006.

In its August 18, 2006 edition, the Egyptian weekly Roz Al-Yusuf
featured an investigative article by Mirfat Al-Hakim titled “Hizbullah’s Children’s
Militias.” The article reveals that Hizbullah has recruited over 2,000 children
aged 10-15 to serve in armed militias, and that the Hizbullah-affiliated Mahdi
Scouts youth organization is training them to become martyrs.

The following are excerpts from the article.

Hizbullah Recruits Children Barely 10 Years Old

According to Roz Al-Yusuf, “Hizbullah has recruited over 2,000 innocent
children aged 10-15 to form armed militias. Before the recent war with Israel,
these children appeared only in the annual Jerusalem Day celebrations, and
were referred to as the ‘December 14 Units,’ but today they are called
istishhadiyun ['martyrs']…”

“Hizbullah has customarily recruited youths and children and trained them to
fight from a very early age. These are children barely 10 years old, who wear
camouflage uniforms, cover their faces with black [camouflage] paint, swear to
wage jihad, and join the Mahdi Scouts [youth organization]…

“The children are selected by Hizbullah recruitment [officers] based on one
criterion only: They must be willing to become martyrs.”

The Children Train to Become Martyrs

“The children are educated from an early age to become martyrs in their youth,
like their fathers, and their training is carried out by the Mahdi Scouts youth
organization… [This organization], which is affiliated with Hizbullah, teaches the
children the basic principles of Shi’ite ideology and of Hizbullah’s ideology…
The first lesson that the children are taught by Hizbullah is ‘The Disappearance
of Israel,’ and it is always an important part of the [training] program…

“The Mahdi Scouts organization was founded in Lebanon on May 5, 1985…
According to the organization’s website, the number of [scouts] who had
undergone training by the end of 2004 was 1,491, and the number of scout
groups which had joined [the organization] was 449, with a membership of
41,960. According to the organization’s most recent statistics, since 2004, 120
of its members have been ready to become martyrs.

“The organization’s goal is to train an exemplary generation of Muslims based
on the [principle of] ‘the rule of the jurisprudent’ [a founding principle of the
Islamic Revolution in Iran], and to prepare for the coming of the Imam Mahdi
[the Shi'ite messiah]. Its members, including the children, undertake to obey
their commanders, to bring honor to the [Muslim] nation, and to prepare
themselves for helping the Mahdi [when he comes].”

A Nation With Child-Martyrs Will Be Victorious

According to the article, Na’im Qasim, deputy to Hizbullah Secretary-General
Hassan Nasrallah, said in an interview on Radio Canada:

“A nation with child-martyrs will be victorious, no matter what
difficulties lie in its path. Israel cannot conquer us or violate our territories,
because we have martyr sons who will purge the land of the Zionist filth… This
will be done through the blood of the martyrs, until we eventually achieve our goals.”