ISIS app for kids teaches ABC's and heavy weapons at the same time

ALEPPO (Christian Examiner) – The Islamic State has launched a smart phone app to help children learn the Arabic alphabet by associating each letter with a weapon that can be used to kill "infidels" in jihad, or holy war.

Writing at Threat Matrix, Caleb Weiss reports ISIS's "Library of Zeal," its whereabouts unknown, has produced the handy Android-compatible tool for kids under the territorial control of the state. But because it can be downloaded anywhere, its reach is global.

According to Weiss, the app has games and nasheed or Islamic songs filled with jihadist catch phrases and vocabulary like "gun," "ammunition," "rocket" and "tank." Weiss claims it is the first such application directed exclusively to children, but it is certainly not the first time one side in the War on Terror has seen children as the target of such efforts.

In 2015 an anti-ISIS graphic coloring book was produced showing the methods of torture ISIS uses to either convert or kill prisoners. That book was meant to shock children by confronted them with the barbarity of the terror group.

In February 2016, anti-extremist cartoons featuring "Average Mohamed" were produced to help Muslims stave off radicalism among children.

ISIS training videos have also featured children as young as five and six years old, called "cubs of the caliphate," training under live fire. Another shows a 12-year-old boy beheading a man.