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A/HRC/28/69 53 Idlib and Hama described seeing many non-Syrian children in the camps, some of whom were the children of fighters, some who had been kidnapped, or had voluntarily joined ISIS. Witnesses described seeing young children in ISIS insignia carrying weapons in Minbeij (Aleppo) in October 2014. One of those interviewed witnessed a boy having to drag an AK-47 as the weapon was taller than him. Armed children were also observed in Al Hasakah, where they were seen guarding ISIS bases and working at the group’s checkpoints. A child, aged approximately 10 years, was seen working as a prison guard in an ISIS detention centre in Tibneh (Dayr az Zawr). Children participated in active hostilities in the ISIS assault on Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) and in military operations in Tibneh and Al-Shuhail (Dayr az Zawr). 211. ISIS has failed to protect children in the course of their military operations. Children who survived the attack on Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) in September and October 2014 exhibited signs of trauma in the aftermath and described their distress at losing their homes and futures following their displacement. 212. In November 2014, ISIS closed schools in Aleppo and Dayr az Zawr for lack of conformity with its understanding of Shari’a curriculum. In Ar Raqqah governorate, some schools have reopened in compliance with ISIS’ requirements. ISIS has also occupied schools and used them as military bases. Two schools were occupied in Al-Shaddadi (Al Hasakah) and one in Al-Ashara (Dayr az Zawr). The International Coalition’s aerial campaign against ISIS has led their fighters to hide deeper in densely populated civilian areas, abandoning their bases in school buildings, which were frequently marked with the group’s banners. 213. The military use of schools endangers children and prevents their access to education. The kidnapping and indoctrination of Kurdish schoolchildren in Minbeij is a clear instance of a deliberate victimisation of children, entailing repeated violations of children’s rights. ISIS recruitment and use of children violates international humanitarian law and rises to the level of war crimes, committed in a systematic manner and on a mass scale. The training of children and testimony describing the presence of children among ISIS fighters indicates the organised recruitment and preparation of children for active combat roles. The use of children as executioners, and the execution of children accused of membership in opposing armed groups, indicates the level of vulnerability of children, in particular boys, perceived to be of fighting age. ISIS’ violations entail clear individual criminal responsibility for the direct perpetrators of crimes and their authors at the highest levels of ISIS’ hierarchy. People’s Protection Units (YPG) 214. Underage fighters were involved in the YPG’s military operations against ISIS in Ayn al-Arab (Kobane). After the YPG call for mass mobilization to defend the area from ISIS, many children joined the fighting and were wounded or killed. Minors participated in military operations and YPG failed to take action to prevent their involvement. One interviewee stated that his 15-year-old brother had been conscripted into the YPG to fight in Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) and had since been injured in hostilities. 215. Accounts of recruitment of minors into the YPG have also been documented in Aleppo and Al Hasakah. In separate incidents two 15-year-old girls were recruited by the Women’s Protection Unit of the YPG in December 2014. 216. The YPG continues to recruit and use children in active hostilities in violation of international humanitarian law and their own stated commitments to the contrary. Available information indicates that minors are accepted into YPG ranks for roles that involve direct participation in hostilities