Armed opposition groups fighting in Syria are using children for combat and other military purposes, Human Rights Watch said today. Children as young as 14 have served in at least three opposition brigades, transporting weapons and supplies and acting as lookouts, Human Rights Watch found, and children as young as 16 have carried arms and taken combat roles against government forces.

“Even when children volunteer to fight, commanders have a responsibility to protect them by turning them away,” Motaparthy said. “Children are easily influenced by older relatives and friends, but their participation in armed hostilities places them in grave danger of being killed, permanently disabled, or severely traumatized.”

“[The FSA] is accepting people from 16 and up,” Haitham told Human Rights Watch. “They’re under a lot of pressure [to win battles].”
<Authors note> By whom ? Bitching Saudi or Turkey sponsors ? </Authors note>

“Raed,” 14 years old:
"We would help the FSA by bringing them … supplies from Turkey, weapons. We would bring bullets and Russiyets [Kalashnikovs]. All of the kids were helping like this. We were 10 boys between 14 and 18 years old. I know the guys in the FSA and they asked me to help in this way. I did this for four or five months."

In three group interviews with Syrian refugees, older men, including FSA fighters on leave, asked children in the group what army they supported and showed Human Rights Watch photographs or videos of children carrying weapons and chanting FSA rallying cries. On at least two occasions while interviewing refugees, Human Rights Watch witnessed men encouraging boys to join the armed opposition. “We’ve watched men urge boys to support the FSA and join the fight,” Motaparthy said. “Particularly when their older family members fight with armed opposition groups, or have been killed by regime forces, boys can face pressure to pick up weapons and fight back, sometimes even at very young ages.”

“The FSA comes to the [Zaatari] camp and spreads the message that it is not acceptable to stay in the camp while others are fighting in Syria,” one international organization representative working with Syrian refugees in Jordan told Human Rights Watch.

Read the full article here:
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/29/syria-opposition-using-children-conflict

Some examples:

Militants of the rebel Free Syrian Army, including a child soldier, ride in a truck in the town of Kafar Nubul in the northwest province of Idlib yesterday. Picture: AFP Source: AFP



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No further details ! Published as propaganda by FSA cause of the Koran, blah ..

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