ISIS separates families by abducting newborn babies, virgin girls, says Catholic priest

A Catholic priest said that Islamic State fighters are separating families in areas under the control of the terrorist group by taking away their newborn babies and virgin girls. The jihadists kill the fathers and they force the young boys to plant bombs on the streets.

Fr. Patrick Desbois, a Paris-based priest who dedicated his life to researching the Holocaust and fighting anti-Semitism, helped genocide victims of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Desbois said in an interview with The Christian Post that ISIS has killed Shia Muslims and Christians in large numbers, adding that the terror group is utilizing a "very special" strategy in its efforts to decimate entire people groups.

"They dislocate the families, they take the newborn babies, and they put them in Islamist families," he told The Christian Post.

He said that the jihadist group trains young children to be terrorists while the men are often shot in pits. He added that young girls are sold in the sex trade. "The young girls who are virgins are selected by doctors and sold," he said.

Desbois said that the terrorists "dislocate families according to age, sexuality," adding that every member is used "in a special way." He believes that the group is very organized and he sees no sign of improvisation.

The priest, who founded the humanitarian organization Yahad-In Unum, has interviewed numerous Yazidi survivors who escaped from ISIS.

He has shared many of the interviews in Action Yazidis, an initiative of the organization which aims to uncover "facts of genocidal practices wherever they are found and provide a voice of protest on behalf of all victims and potential victims of genocide."

Desbois said that his organization has gathered "many testimonies of girls who say they have been used as human shields." He noted that the testimonies have been cross-referenced with other sources to get a clear picture of the atrocities commited by ISIS.

He believes that there are almost no Christians left under ISIS except for those who are held in captivity in territories controlled by the group.

He noted that while ISIS flaunts some of its atrocities online, the group is careful not to show all of its barbaric acts. "They show beheadings, crucifixions, or when they burn people, but they rarely show when they are raping a girl, or when they are training children in terrorist camps," he said.

Debois urged Christians to help refugee families fleeing from war-stricken areas and called on the government to help the victims find work. He said that one of the ways that people can help is to donate to organizations that are working to aid the victims of ISIS.