In ISIS Video, 10-year-old Boy Says Dad Is US Soldier

WASHINGTON, DC —In a seven-minute video posted by the Islamic State group, a 10-year-old boy says he is the son of an American soldier who "fought the mujahideen in Iraq."

The boy, Youssef, appearing to be reciting from a script in footage released Wednesday, said he moved to Syria two years ago and now lives in Raqqa, Newsweek reported. The boy, who seems to have an American accent, said he befriended 7-year-old Abdullah from Sinjar, Iraq. He doesn't disclose where he lived in the U.S. or elaborate on the identity of his father.

Yousef said the fighting has just begun and called President Donald Trump a "puppet of the Jews." He is shown with an ISIS fighter and loading what appears to be an assault rifle. (For more information on Yousef and other Across America stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The group released the video, titled “This Fertile Nation," on YouTube and its other social media channels.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes in Raqqa on Monday killed 42 civilians, including 19 children and 12 women. The activist-run group called Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently said 32 people died in airstrikes on one neighborhood alone.

Syrian opposition fighters, supported by the U.S., have been trying to capture the city from ISIS since early June and have been fighting under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces now hold more than half of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the extremist group's self-styled Islamic caliphate.

Newsweek reached out to the State Department for comment.

A new ISIS propaganda video appears to show an American child for the first time https://t.co/puXOtUB0Gq pic.twitter.com/F0vjrX5Tpy
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) August 24, 2017

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Screenshot of NBCnews.com Twitter post