Baghdad, April 22 (Xinhua) Iraqi security forces have captured four children trained as suicide bombers by Al Qaeda, police said Tuesday.
The children were captured in a village near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, it said.

The suspects, all aged under 14, were part of a larger cell known as “Birds of Paradise,” the source said, adding that they were being especially trained on how to avoid detention as they carry out attacks.

They were also being trained to aide the terrorist groups in detonating roadside bombs, he said.

Al Qaeda has previously recruited women and children to carry out attacks on US troops and Iraqi security forces.

The group started its first recruiting program of women and children in 2005, when dozens were brought to training camps in volatile areas in southern Baghdad and the province of Diyala in northeast of the capital.

The recruited youngsters, mostly aged nine to 14 years, stayed under restrict supervision of Al Qaeda members and were brainwashed by religious lessons on Jihad (Holy War).

In December, 2008, Major Al Hing from the Second Striker Brigade 25th Infantry Division said they discovered last March and April ” a conglomeration of cells … associated with the recruitment and implementation of youth suicide bombers.”

“In Tarmiya, we saw the Lions’ Club, Fatah al-Islam, Youth of Heaven and Youth of Paradise,” and also similar children suicide cells in the Taji area and in Falahat, according to Al Hing.