Just two weeks ago , Yasir was regularly strapped into an explosive vest and handed a pistol , an AK-47 and a radio to stand guard at an ISIS base in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor . Yasir -- not his real name -- is just 15 and an ISIS child soldier . When we first met , he was clearly nervous , his hands slightly quivering as he picked up his cup of tea . Understandable , given all he has been through and the twisted mental maze he is trying to navigate . Yasir had followed his father to be with the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front . When ISIS took over their area , father and son swore allegiance to ISIS . `` I spent a month without seeing my family or anyone that I knew , '' Yasir recalls . `` It was forbidden to see or speak to anyone . '' He says there were about 100 children and for a month they were kept isolated from all that they knew and loved , and not allowed even to see or speak to their families . Rather , they were entrenched in intense religious indoctrination . There were daily lessons on the violent and radical version of Islam practiced by ISIS . Rigorous military training was also a daily feature of their lives . He says : `` We used to crawl under webbing . There was fire above it , and we would be firing our weapons . We would jump through large metal rings and the trainers would be firing at our feet and telling us if we stop we will be shot . '' He says the trainers would have them run for 2 kilometers . `` I was very careful not to stop running , I did n't stop , even if I was exhausted , out of breath , I did n't stop . '' ISIS posts videos and pictures on the Internet bragging about its so-called `` cubs of the Islamic State . '' While there are no firm numbers on how many children are part of ISIS , the United Nations says there are confirmed reports of children as young as 12 undergoing military training . Yasir admits he missed his parents . It was the first time he had stayed away from them , but he says he and the other boys would laugh , joke and talk about their training . After a month he was sent home and began to regularly report for duty . `` When we arrived they gave us guns and the explosive belt and the radio , '' he says . `` We would get calls from the checkpoints alerting us [ when ] the ISIS VIPs were coming . Anyone who was n't a VIP , we would pick up our guns and stop them . '' But his mother would beg him to leave . Yasir says : `` She would say that I am too young . 'Please leave , you have nothing to do with this . ' I would tell her that this is the jihad that we all must do . '' He says the first time he saw a beheading he did n't eat for two days , repulsed by the scene but not the actual act . He admits he was afraid the explosive belt he wore would accidentally detonate if he was hit by shrapnel . He also felt proud , strong and filled with a sense of purpose . But his father realized he had to save his son and himself . He decided to defect and tricked Yasir into leaving with him for Turkey . Yasir says : `` I was asking him 'why are you doing this ? What happened ? ' My father turned to me and said they are not on the right religious track . '' The Yasir we met appears to have a gentle demeanor , but he 's clearly confused , struggling to define what is right and wrong , and wrest himself from the psychological damage ISIS has done . He initially says he wants to go back to ISIS because his friends are there , and he defends some of the strict interpretations of Islam , but he also says : `` I am discovering over time they have no religion . '' Toward the end of our interview , he tells us he regrets having joined them . Yasir has a chance to emerge from the hold of ISIS , to return to the Arabic and math-loving schoolboy he was before the war . But that is not the case for the other children firmly in the grasp of ISIS , living under their rule , easily manipulated and lured toward the terrorist organization .
Yasir , 15 , trained with ISIS in Syria . He had military training and religious indoctrination . His father helped him escape into Turkey . Comment: