“Special forces units have arrested an organisation of children consisting of four individuals under the age of 14 who call themselves the ‘Birds of Paradise’,” said General Abdelamir al-Zaidi, the commander of the Iraqi army division in Kirkuk. “The group relies on children and is connected to al-Qaeda. It works to recruit children and young people to carry out suicide attacks and to aid the terrorist groups in detonating roadside bombs.”…

The newly discovered children’s cell appeared to derive its name from the Islamic belief that when children die they become birds of paradise.