The video seemed like a nightmarish parody of the Islamic State: filmed on a smartphone, five boys, one only 11, pledge allegiance to the terror group.
“We promise fear and death in the hearts of unbelievers. Victory or jihad!” the boys vow, as the youngest brandishes a knife and an iPhone displaying Isil’s black flag.
But soon after it was filmed last month, the boys in it would be killed in an assault on police in Russia’s Chechnya republic, where a string of attacks involving teenagers has left the authorities struggling to battle “child terrorism”.
The August 20 incident involving four underage cousins and their 18-year-old neighbour was the youngest attack yet.
A relative of the family,…