Key facts
- Ayada K., a Dutch woman, was convicted of war crimes by a district court in The Hague.
- She was sentenced to seven years in prison.
- The conviction was for allowing her then 14-year-old son to become an Islamic State fighter.
- K. took her son and daughter to Syria in 2014 and allowed her son to join the Islamic State military police at age 14.
- Her son died two years later serving in an Islamic State military unit.
- K. was repatriated to the Netherlands in 2024 with her remaining children and arrested upon arrival.
A district court in The Hague has convicted Ayada K., a 49-year-old Dutch woman, of war crimes and sentenced her to seven years in prison. The conviction stems from her role in allowing her then 14-year-old son to become a fighter for the Islamic State. The court found K. guilty of the war crime of aiding and abetting the recruitment of a child soldier, as well as aiding a terrorist organization and endangering her minor children. K. had taken her teenage son and daughter from the Netherlands to Islamic State-held territory in Syria in 2014. Judges determined she then permitted her son to join the Islamic State military police at the age of 14. He reportedly died two years later while serving in an Islamic State military unit. K. invoked her right to remain silent during the trial. Following the fall of Islamic State in 2019, she remained in Syria until her repatriation in 2024 with her remaining children, at which point she was arrested.