The leader of the Islamic State, formerly Isis, has released the first audiotape calling for jihad since the group renamed. The group is currently battling Iraqi forces across large parts of the country.
Middle-eastern militants including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) are recruiting children for dangerous tasks including suicide missions, according to a new report.
The study from Human Rights Watch, documenting the experiences of 25 children and former child soldiers in Syria, found that some children were being recruited under the guise of schooling programmes.
Among the children interviewed by Humans Rights Watch were some thought to have acted as snipers and carried supplied to the front line during battles.
Along with Isis, children were also said to have represented groups such as the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat al-Nusra.
While the number of children killed during the Syrian conflict is not known, a Syrian monitoring group called the Violations Documenting Center has estimated that 194 male children have died in the country since September 2011.
The Foreign Secretary has been clear on the threat of Isis, but he has ruled out the prospect of any UK military involvement in the crisis.
Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, is a natural diplomat. Polite, immaculately dressed, and blessed with a great memory.
Isis has paraded military equipment in Mosul it captured from when the Iraqi army fled in what some see as a "nightmare scenario."