‘I shared religious terror training with 1,000 others’

TERROR suspect Ahmed Hassan, then 15, was interviewed by Home Office officials in Croydon, South London, on January 18, 2016. A Barnados charity worker who was partly responsible for his care took notes:

Official: ‘Have you ever had any training with IS and what did you do while you were with IS?’

Hassan: ‘They trained us on how to kill. It was all religious-based.’

‘Who did you go there with and how many people were there with you?’

Hassan said he was recruited on his own but shared training with about 1,000 people, and that they would spend three or four hours a day in the mosque.

‘How did you get away from IS and have they sent you to Europe to work for them?’

Hassan said Iraqi soldiers came into Islamic State territory and told everyone to go.

Some children had stayed, some died and some went back to their families, he said, adding that IS had not sent him to Europe. The interview continued following the arrival

of a solicitor and an interpreter, and some of the questions were put again.

‘Have you previously or are you part of any terrorist group i.e. Islamic State?’

Hassan said he was taken by force by IS and if he did not go they would have killed his uncle and brother.

Question: ‘Have you had any training with IS and what did you do whilst you were with IS?’

The teenager again replied that he was forced to train with the terror group on how to kill and that they would teach him about religion.