Puffing on a cigarette, a Kalashnikov AK-47 slung awkwardly across his little shoulders, seven-year-old Ahmed stands at a makeshift barricade in Syria. He is one of the youngest fighters to be ...

The ex-British Army officer added: “I was a soldier for 23 years and I thought ... He had what we call in the military a thousand-yard stare – his eyes had lost focus, he looked empty ...