Bahraini teenagers are being offered free pilgrimage trips to Saudi Arabia, where they are persuaded to take up arms alongside the Islamic State (IS), it has been claimed.

They are being actively recruited and trained to use weapons such as Kalashnikovs by militant groups operating underground in Muharraq, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Parliamentary candidate Mariam Al Jowder, who is running in the Muharraq Governorate's constituency one that covers Busaiteen, said the teenagers were put up in five-star hotels in Makkah and taught to sympathise with extremist groups.

Al Jowder, a former engineer at the Works Ministry, blamed parents and clerics for allowing children to be brainwashed by jihadists.

“Some of the licensed trip organisers who are permitted to take people to Saudi Arabia have approached teenagers offering them free Umrah trips,” she told the GDN.

“Yes, there are people who offer free trips as donations or charity - but that is different.

“This, I learn, that the teens are taken free of cost and offered five-star facilities and allowed to be on their own throughout the trip.

“Once they got back, I learned that they were approached by strangers who offered them information on strange groups and ideologies like the Islamic State (IS).

“Then we know what could happen - they obviously get trained in these extremist ideologies.”

The GDN earlier reported that Bahraini Abdualaziz Al Jowder, 19, was believed to be fighting alongside the IS in Syria and that 14-year-old Ibrahim Al Awadhi was killed amid air strikes in Iraq.

“Where are their families?” asked Al Jowder, who stressed there was a lack of parental control in society.

“These tragedies are the aftermath of such reckless attitude of the parents.

“The age group of 13 to 19, which mothers refer to as 'grown-up' or 'man', is actually an age where they need to be guided and guarded.

“How did these children undergo training right under the nose of their parents?

“How did they plan and execute their trips? Shouldn't parents be the custodians of their travel and identity documents?

“It is not the physical stature that decides your child's growth, but your mental maturity and until children reach that stage, their protection is the parents' responsibility.”

The mother-of-three also accused religious figures of being busy with politics instead of guiding youths away from extremist ideologies.

“It is the responsibility of the clerics to guide these children away from such distractions,” she said.

“As a parent, I am proud to see my child being religious, but Islam is not about extremism, instead it is about humanity and this is where the scholars have to play their role.

“Unfortunately, we lack true Islamic people and those we have are busy with politics.”

Meanwhile, well-placed sources told the GDN that teenagers in Muharraq were being trained to use weapons.

“They are trained with real weapons like Kalashnikovs which we see used by militants linked to the IS,” claimed the sources.

“Galali, Busaiteen, Arad and Hidd are teeming with such activities and could prove dangerous.

“We have proof of men from Muharraq openly announcing their following of the IS.

“So, definitely these men have their groups spread across, who are doing their job silently.”

Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa earlier said that around 100 Bahrainis were fighting alongside the IS in the war-torn countries of Iraq and Syria. - TradeArabia News Service