The "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) has handed over the corpses of a number of child soldiers, known as 'Cubs of the Caliphate', to their families in the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor, activists told Diyaruna.

On Monday (August 14th) and Tuesday, ISIS patrols handed over 22 corpses of child conscripts no more than 14 years old to their families in eastern rural Deir Ezzor, according to media activist Mohyuddin al-Aqidi, of the village of Keshkeshiya.

This triggered a wave of anger and grief among residents, he told Diyaruna, noting that some of the children had been conscripted within the last month.

According to eyewitnesses, al-Aqidi said, ISIS elements told the parents the children had died in battles in the Syrian Badiya (desert) region.

"Those children were part of a large group of children from the region who were conscripted under the name of 'Cubs of the Caliphate', and were supposed to undergo training for at least three months before being transferred to combat zones," al-Aqidi said.

"However, the shortfall in fighters the group is facing seems to have been the reason they were thrust into the front lines of the ongoing battles on the Badiya front," he added.

Some of the families who received the corpses of their children have also had their adult children detained by the group since the issuance of ISIS's compulsory conscription decree, which came into force several days ago.

These families are poor and destitute, al-Aqidi said.

ISIS took advantage of their financial situation to recruit their children, luring them with monthly salaries and promised food rations.

"The group also coerces its [paid] collaborators to send their children to fight by threatening to stop disbursing their monthly salaries," he said.

These have dropped to less than $100, and sometimes to as little as $50.