Online videos shows children training for jihad; young son of Osama bin Laden reads statement

By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com

INTELWIRE has uncovered a video of young boys training in jihad techniques. The video includes a statement read in Arabic by a young son of Osama bin Laden, according to a terrorism investigator.

The video was hosted on an Arabic-language Web site connected to Tawhid Wal Jihad, the terror organization led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

UPDATE: Pak Jihadis training children as 'future terrorists'

More on jihadist videos at INTELFILES.com

The video, titled "Hamza Laden," appears to show young boys between the ages of 10 and 14 engaged in commando training, including marching in formation, running a military-style obstacle course, rappelling and reading written statements in Arabic.

The training scenes appear to be closely modeled on a video of adults in commando traning that was included in the collection of images. The two videos may have been filmed in the same location, and several shots from the video of adult trainees appear to have been specifically recreated for the scenes that appear to feature children.

According to Neil Doyle, author of Terror Tracker, the child reading a statement in Arabic is one of Osama bin Laden's sons. The date the clip was filmed is unknown. The child is featured prominently in several other jihadi propaganda videos, in what is possibly the same clip recycled.

The quality of the video is extremely poor, but there are several discernable shots of young, beardless males. Viewers may evaluate the video themselves. The "Hamza Laden" video may be downloaded as a zip file (which expands to play in Real Media format) by clicking here.

Although INTELWIRE has scanned the file for viruses, download the file at your own risk. If mirroring or reposting the clip, please credit INTELWIRE as the source.





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