7-yr-olds groomed as suicide bombers

LONDON: A number of children in Britain, as young as seven, are being groomed by jihadists as potential “terrorists” and “suicide bombers”,a media report said on Sunday

According to The Telegraph, UK police have identified at least 10 primary school students, aged between seven and 10, who are at risk of being radicalised and turning to violence.

Some have taken inspiration from jihadi websites or after viewing extremist material in Islamic bookshops; and one child was even referred to the programme by his teacher after writing on a school book: “I want to be a suicide bomber.”

Others were identified by their parents after suddenly adopting traditional Muslim dress or espousing extremist views, the report said.

In fact, 228 people in total, mostly teenagers and young men aged 15-24, have been referred to the anti-terrorism Channel project, a government outreach programme, after being singled out as “potentially vulnerable to violent extremism”, the newspaper said.

“For people to be identified have to be distinct changes in behaviour and warning signs. We assess each one on its own merits. There is a very small number of children aged seven, eight and nine.

“The programme is not appropriate for people who are dangerous or have passed over into violent extremism. The whole purpose is to persuade,” Craig Denholm, deputy chief constable of Surrey police, who oversees the programme, said.