Chadian Government to demobilize child soldiers, denies targeted conscription

BBC: Chad demobilises child soldiers Chad's government has signed a deal with the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) to begin demobilising child soldiers from its national army. The agreement is a U-turn for the government, which as always denied that it has had under-age fighters. In a recent Unicef investigation more than 300 child soldiers were discovered in one town alone. Chad's minister for external relations, Djidda Moussa Outman, says the army has never purposely recruited children. "A few days ago, in the town of Mongo, we began to demobilise 200 to 300 children from the Chadian army," Mr Outman said. A good proportion of the children were reportedly between eight and 11 years old. "This is already a strong sign of our goodwill. The government has never knowingly signed up children into the Chadian army. It's young people who forge their birth certificates," the minister said. "If they come to sign up we cannot know they are lying. What happens in Europe is not the same in Africa. But we are now taking concrete actions to remove them quickly from the national army." He gave an assurance that the government is trying to educate people that youths should not be recruited. Unicef's Steve Adkisson says the recruitment of child fighters is widespread in Chad - the true number is not known. [...] Clearly, the issue of Chad's child soldiers is not something that will be solved overnight. But now the government's admitted that it does have a problem, there is hope that many hundreds of children can finally return home to safety. child soldiers, fleshploitation

Yemini military enlisting child soldiers to combat Shiite rebels

Jane Novak at Worldpress.org: Yemen: From Nepotism to Internal Jihad In the current round of fighting, the Yemeni military has augmented its ranks with child soldiers, tribesmen, and jihadis. Several induction centers have been opened and local media report that children as young as 15 have been given weapons and sent to the front with no training. Tribesmen from President Saleh's tribe, the Hashid Confederation, have also volunteered and been inducted for service in the thousands. As the Believing Youth are from the Bakil Tribal Confederation, military deployment of tribal irregulars has increased the threat of all-out tribal warfare. Yemeni jihadis, unlike Yemen's child soldiers, are extremely well trained. Many are veterans of prior conflicts in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, and other jihadist campaigns. Some currently receive terrorist training in Yemen, reportedly with aid from some top military commanders. Saleh's use of Salafist proxies dates back at least to Yemen's 1994 civil war, when jihadis targeted Southern Socialist forces that had been labeled as apostates. Thanks to Eric at Vince Aut Morire for the tip. child soldiers, fleshploitation

Uganda: Will cease-fire end use of child conscripts, sex slaves in war torn nation?

AP: Cease-Fire Brings Hope to Uganda By KATY POWNALL A cease-fire between Uganda's government and a shadowy rebel movement that has terrorized this east African nation for nearly two decades went into effect Tuesday. The truce signed Saturday is aimed at ending the brutal war between the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, notorious for cutting off the tongues and lips of innocent civilians, enslaving thousands of children, and driving nearly 2 million people from their homes. [...] U.N. officials estimate Kony's guerrillas kidnapped 20,000 children in the past 19 years, turning the boys into soldiers and the girls into sex slaves for rebel commanders. Rebel attacks and atrocities drove 1.7 million people to flee. sexual slavery, child soldiers, fleshploitation