Qaeda videos show boys in mock attacks

By Michael Holden

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda videos seized by U.S. forces show Iraqi children younger than 11 carrying out mock kidnappings and attacks, the U.S. military and Iraqi officials said on Wednesday.

Videos played to media showed about 20 boys, mostly under 11, wearing balaclavas and brandishing AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers almost as big as themselves.

"This is not the first time we've observed such material but the volume and content was the most significant and disturbing we have found to date," said U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith.

Smith said the videos were meant to spread al Qaeda's message among the young rather than train the boys for missions.

Five videos of the children were seized during an operation against the Sunni Islamist militants in early December 2007.

Violence has fallen across Iraq, with attacks down 60 percent since last June, but Smith said al Qaeda was still the greatest threat to security in Iraq.

He said the U.S. military did not know exactly where or when the films were made, or how many children were involved.

The boys were seen stopping a man on a bike and taking him hostage, forcing passengers from a car and holding guns to their heads, and practicing assaults on houses as trainers shouted instructions.