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[ GEO ] ZAMBOANGA, PHILIPPINE NAVY BASE
[ VO ] Jaffar and Abdullah are former ISIS fighters,
and they’re now boarding a Philippine Naval ship.
[ Abdullah ]The marines invited us to Sulu.
TERRORIST VIDEO
[ Abdullah ]I joined ISIS when I was 16, there were a lot of guys like me...
more than...
... eighty.
[ Correspondent ] Have you killed anyone before? Who?
[ Abdullah ]A Christian.
CRISIS CHILDHOOD
[ GEO ] SAGUIARAN, PHILIPPINES
[ Jaffar ]I am 14.
[ Jaffar ]What's my job? I work in a barbecue placeЮ
[ JAFFAR AGED 14 ]And I have a side job as a driver I make barbecue chicken now.
[ Jaffar ]I get up at six
I start preparing chicken.
[ Jaffar ]We sell them. At about three, after lunch, we go home. I make 150 pesos ($2.86) a day.
[ VO ]The business owner knows Jaffar spent time with ISIS but his
friends and acquaintances don’t, he keeps his past hidden from them.
[ Correspondent ]Why didn't holding a weapon scare you?
[ Jaffar ]Well, my dad sold me so no one cared if I lived or died
[ Correspondent ]How did you hear that he'd sold you?
[ Jaffar ]Our commander told me.
[ Correspondent ]How much did he get for you?
[ Jaffar ]23,000 pesos ($438) I was only 12.
[ Correspondent ]How many of you, do you remember?
[ Jaffar ]Twenty-four.
[ Correspondent ]What did you do with a weapon? Did they trust you with a weapon?
[ Jaffar ]I was meant to kill.
TERRORIST VIDEO
[ VO ]The Filipino subdivision of ISIS calls itself the Abu Sayyaf group
and it’s based around Mindanao, Basilan and the Sulu islands. Its goal
is to establish an independent Muslim Caliphate in the Philippines. It’s
known that they use large numbers of children in combat, as human
shields, suicide bombers, and as donors to treat wounded adult fighters.
[ GEO ] PHILIPPINE NAVY VESSEL
[ VO ]After almost 24 hours at sea on route to visit the marines, Jaffar and Abdullah still don’t know
what’s waiting for them. They’re transferred from one naval ship to another and the voyage continues.
[ ABDULLAH, AGED 17 ]Not of those who have evoked Your anger or of those who are astray…
[ GEO ]LUMBACATOROS VILLAGE
[ VO ]This is Abdullah’s home village. It was his own uncle who sold him to ISIS, that’s him.
[ Faisal ]This is our room, it's where we sleep. These are my kids' books. I have some school awards there.
[ VO ]The uncle didn’t just sell his nephew but also his son.
[ Faisal ]This is my son Kahir, he died on June 10. He was 10 years old.
[ VO ]He says that men in black came and asked for his children. They
promised to teach them Arabic. He claims he had no idea it was a trap.
[ FAISAL ABDULLAH'S UNCLE ]They said that they would teach the
kids, but in reality the children were actually recruited by ISIS.
[ Faisal ]They paid as much as 25,000 pesos and another 25,000 for my nephew, Abdullah.
[ Faisal ]For them both, a total of about 900 dollars.
[ Ashlia ]Pass me those clothesЮ
[ ASHLIA ABDULLAH'S AUNT ]I think my husband wanted to hide it, he didn't want anyone to know.
[ Ashlia ]We had a fight when he didn't tell the truth. He didn't want to admit he'd taken the money.
[ Ashlia ]Goods of all kinds:
turnips and aubergines...
cigarettes and peanuts…
[ Ashlia ]I am a laundress, so... I can make up to 300 pesos ($5.7) a day.
[ Ashlia ]That's enough to buy some rice.
[ Ashlia ]Sometimes I make 400 pesos ($7.6), that's not much money.
[ Ashlia ]We grow some stuff and sell it at the market We do whatever it takes to get some food.
[ Ashlia ]Sometimes we do... sometimes we don't.
[ Ashlia ]Let's plant it somewhere else? [ Abdullah ]Or here?
[ Ashlia ]Let's see...Here?
[ VO ]Abdullah says he never saw his cousin at the ISIS camp and hadn’t
heard anything of Kahir, about where he was or what he was doing.
[ Ashlia ]Tell them that you’re mad at uncle Faisal because he sold you two to ISIS.
[ Abdullah ] Yes, at first I was mad at him. I thought we were going off to school. And we ended up in an ISIS training camp.
[ Correspondent ]How do you feel about your cousin's death?
[ Ashlia ]What can he say?
[ Abdullah ] Bad.
[ Correspondent ] What's bad? [ Abdullah ] That's how I feel.
[ Abdullah ] I was scared.
[ Abdullah ] I couldn't sleep.
[ Abdullah ] I thought we were going to die.
[ Abdullah ] I wanted... to get out of there.
[ Abdullah ] I couldn't eat properly at the camp because...
we thought of the training
and the battles ahead I used to wake up at 3 am or so.
[ Abdullah ] Drills started as soon as we were up
[ Abdullah ] The other guys cooked while I collected wood.
[ Abdullah ] We ran around...
and carried weapons.
[ Abdullah ] All praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds, The Entirely Merciful,
the Especially Merciful, Sovereign of the Day of Recompense
[ GEO ]PHILIPPINE NAVY VESSEL
[ Jaffar ]I'll never forget killing a Christian.
They ordered us to kill and they threatened usЮ
[ GEO ]SAGUIARAN, PHILIPPINES
PRINCESS, 13 YEARS
[ VO ]At 13, Princess already knows about betrayal. Her father didn’t sell her, he betrayed her; he joined ISIS.
[ Salma ]Sometimes, when classmates ask my daughter about her dad, she tells them he's dead.
[ SALMA PRINCESS' MOTHER ]She doesn't admit that her dad's here,
otherwise other kids would say,
'Princess, we never knew your dad was a kidnapper and a killer'.
[ 'Princess ]They keep asking me: 'Why don’t you want to tell us about it?'
[ 'Princess ]And one time I told them that my father was dead.
[ 'Princess ]They asked: ‘How did he die?’
[ 'Princess ]And I said that I didn’t have to tell them, that it was a secret.
[ Salma ]You have milkfish?
[ Salma ]How much? [ Seller ]200 pesos ($3.8)
[ Salma ]I'll have that small one, please clean and cut it.
[ Salma ]The kids keep asking where their dad is, what he's doing and where he's working.
[ Salma ]I never tell my children the truth... but they'll find out one day.
COURTESY OF THE PHILIPPINE ARMY
[ Salma ]I feel so bad for my children.
[ Salma ]Sometimes they ask for some money, and I don't have it. I try to make ends meet.
[ Salma ]I do laundry for relatives so I can make a little money, to at least give them something.
[ Salma ]He picked up bad habits. He changed.
[ Salma ]He wasn't the man I married, Jabar M. Kapal.
[ Salma ]Before the war broke out,
two months before the siege of Marawi,
he called me on the phone.
[ Salma ]He told me he'd joined ISIS and he was a commander.
[ VO ]On May 23, 2017, jihadists captured Marawi city in the centre of Mindanao island.
[ VO ]Militants smashed their way into the police station and helped themselves to weapons
and ammunition. They beheaded the chief of police and shot all the other policemen.
[ VO ]Because Government forces were unprepared for the attack, the battle for Marawi against the
terrorists continued until mid-October. Everyone in this story fought on the side of ISIS:
Princess’ father, Jabar M. Kapal, who was an ISIS unit commander as well as 13-year old Jaffar
and 10-year old Kahir… Abdullah claims that he’d been able to escape before the battle began.
[ Princess ]During the siege of Marawi, we were told that a group of people attacked Marawi.
[ Princess ]I think these were ISIS groups. And
someone said that my father joined them.
[ Princess ]It can’t be, I don’t believe it.
[ Salma ]They spent 10 days in Marawi.
[ Salma ]Yes, at the very beginning of this siege.
[ Salma ]Then they managed to leave, some of them died.
[ Salma ]We don't talk to anyone now, we don't stay in touch.
[ Salma ]Well, Princess calls her dad from time to time but he never answers.
[ Salma ]I'll try. I'll call him now. I hope he
hasn't changed his number and picks up.
[ Salma ]Can you talk to him? Will you?
[ Princess ]Hello. Dad?
[ Princess ]Hello.
[ Princess ]Dad?
[ Princess ]Where are you?
[ Princess ]Are you OK?
[ Princess ]It's good that you're OK.
[ Princess ]I want my father to return to us.
[ Princess ]So that our family was complete again.
[ GEO ]SULU SEA, PHILIPPINES
[ VO ]The Naval vessel has reached Sulu islands, an area that’s
off-limits for tourists, and Jaffar and Abdullah are taken ashore.
[ Jaffar ]I keep wondering, why Dad sold me for 23,000 pesos ($438) He took money for me.
[ Jaffar ]And I haven't heard from him ever since.
I’m scared, so, I can’t speak about myself. I’m afraid to say too much about my time with ISIS.
[ GEO ]SAGUIARAN, REFUGEE CAMP
[ VO ]Jaffar says he fought for three days in Marawi before he escaped. The Army captured him but, because
he’s a minor, he was soon released. Now he’s alone and unwanted, with no money, no home and no family.
[ VO ]His only relative in the city is an aunt who lives in the refugee camp.
[ Jaffar’s aunt ]What's going on, anything to tell me?
[ Jaffar ]I haven't seen you for such a long time.
[ Jaffar’s aunt ]Because you don't love me.
[ Correspondent ]Tell us about when Jaffar’s father decided to sell him?
[ Jaffar’s aunt ]His life is a misery.
[ Jaffar’s aunt ]His father made him join ISIS.
[ Jaffar’s aunt ]I was in constant fear... that he'd be killed. But, thank God, he survived.
[ Jaffar’s aunt ]Did he talk about his escape? I'm still afraid they'll take revenge on him.
[ JAFFAR– FORMER ISIS MEMBER ]I'm here and I didn't die.
[ Jaffar ]I'm still afraid.
[ Jaffar ]I'm still afraid that they will come for me, because of everything I did.
[ Jaffar ]Sometimes I hide.
[ Jaffar ]I don't know what to do with my life.
[ Jaffar ]I just can't think about it.
[ Jaffar ]I don't have anything,
[ Jaffar ]I have no parents.
[ VO ]They may look like Paradise but these idyllic landscapes are misleading.
Sulu islands serve as a Southern base for Aby Sayyaf terrorists.
[ GEO ]SULU ISLANDS, NAVY BASE
[ VO ]It’s where the Philippines Marine Corps chose to hold a special youth tournament, Football for peace.
[ VO ]It’s also where Jaffar and Abdullah’s journey will end.
[ VO ]More than a thousand children will take part in the competition, they’re coming
from all the nearby islands and villages, or barangays, as they’re called here.
[ VO ]Military personnel say this place is geographically isolated and depressing.
[ STEPHEN CABANLET LT.COLONEL ]We’re the only government representatives who can be here. No one else.
[ Stephen ]It is the place where Abu Sayyaf terrorists are taking kidnapped children.
[ Stephen ]And if we don’t fight for these children, they will
be recruited by ISIS or other terrorists like them.
[ Jaffar ]There are so many guys, all watching and waiting to play, and I don't even have any gear. I don't have decent sneakers.
[ Voice ]You can be goalie.
[ Voice ]He'll be goalie, he has a cough. Your main goal is a clean sheet.
[ Translator ]What's wrong? Oh! They're too big?
[ Translator ]Oh, they came undone.
[ Translator ]Tie them properly, like that, so they don't come undone
[ Jaffar ]They came undone because they're not my shoes.
[ VO ]It turns out that neither Jaffar nor Abdullah have ever played football before.
[ VO ]Jaffar concedes a goal after the very first shot; he removes his gloves and leaves the pitch with Abdullah close
behind. They refuse to play anymore and became spectators instead. Abdullah even hides behind an officials’ table.
[ Man ] Have you ever played before? [ Abdullah ] I only played basketball.
[ Man ]Basketball? This game is like basketball. There are five players in basketball, right? In this game, it is 9.
[ Man ]So Jaffar, let's go and play a little?
[ Translator ]They'll show you how. OK? Don't be shy.
[ Man ] Let’s go then.
[ Translator ] He said ‘yes’. [ Man ] Ok, let’s go then.
[ Trainer ]In basketball, the court is always the same. Football pitches vary with the number of players.
[ Trainer ]For five a side, it's this big If it's bigger, it'll be seven a side and this long, it's nine a side.
[ Trainer ]It’s a natural reaction. They’re tired.
[ Trainer ]But they definitely have the potential to play football.
[ Trainer ]Everyone is entitled to a second chance. They are as well.
[ VO ]For the first time, former ISIS members, Jaffar and Abdulla, have simple boyish smiles on their faces.
[ GEO ] LUMBACATOROS VILLAGE
[ Correspondent ]How did you feel when you heard that your child was going through ISIS training?
[ Faisal ]Of course, I was scared.
[ Correspondent ]How did you find out that your son was in Marawi?
[ Correspondent ]That he was fighting in the battle there?
[ Faisal ]He called me. [ Correspondent ] And what did your son tell you?
[ Faisal ]He said: 'Dad, we're here, inside. I told you before we're with ISIS and it's true,
they make us carry weapons'.
[ Faisal ]And then…
[ Faisal ]They said: 'We're hiding in here!'
[ Faisal ]And when the rescuers went in, I shouted to him and he replied like this… He waved to me
[ Faisal ]Of course, I was happy.
[ Faisal ]I saw him. I saw that my son was alive.
[ Faisal ]I called to him, 'Come here'.
[ Faisal ]And he threw his weapon away.
[ Correspondent ]Do you regret selling your son? Taking money to make him do that training?
[ Faisal ]Yes, of course, I do Now I regret it.
[ VO ]Their son survived, the father did manage to bring his son home but 10-year old
Kahir died two months later. It wasn’t the war that killed him, but his memories of it.
[ Ashlia ]Many men in Piagapo were talked into giving
away their 10-year-old kids 12 to 15 year olds joined ISIS.
[ Correspondent ]Did your son say anything about what went on in there? Did he talk about it?
[ Ashlia ]The one that died? Oh no, he
wasn't himself, he was a different person.
[ Ashlia ]He was crying
[ Ashlia ]He hid all the time. He seemed to hear lots of different sounds.
[ Ashlia ]We couldn't talk to him, he just wrapped himself up in a blanket.
[ Ashlia ]That was it. It was as if he was really scared.
[ Correspondent ]Did he die there?
[ Ashlia ]No, he died at home
[ VO ]The parents visit their son’s grave.
[ VO ]Abdullah hasn’t come to the cemetery. Perhaps, he feared going mad too, just like his 10-years old cousin, Kahir.
[ Faisal ]Of course, I'm head of the family.
[ Faisal ]It was because I couldn't take proper care of him.
[ Faisal ]I failed to guide him, perhaps that's why.
[ Faisal ]I wish you could forgive me.
[ Ashlia ]I'll make myself forgive.
[ Ashlia ]I need to work hard,
whatever way life turns out...
good and evil both exist
[ GEO ] SULU ISLANDS NAVY BASE
[ VO ]Jaffar’s cough is getting worse and after the football match, he’s taken to a doctor.
[ Translator ]Have you been coughing for a while?
[ Doctor ]Maybe it's asthma? Breathe in. It may be asthma.
[ Doctor ]His right… No, his left side… I don't think air is getting through to the lung.
[ Doctor ]Your cough sounds awful from the back.
[ VO ]The football tournament comes to a close with the opening of a Memorial to all of the marines who fell in battle.
[ VO ]The gunfire almost makes Jaffar pass out.
[ Translator ]You're not in Marawi but in Sulu You have companions here...
... look. Let's go there for a minute because it's raining, OK?
[ Translator ]Are you OK now?
[ Translator ]Didn't I say to just let it out?