{"id":95380,"date":"2015-03-01T13:25:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-01T13:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=95380"},"modified":"2015-03-01T13:25:04","modified_gmt":"2015-03-01T13:25:04","slug":"hundreds-of-south-sudan-boys-kidnapped-to-be-child-soldiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/03\/hundreds-of-south-sudan-boys-kidnapped-to-be-child-soldiers\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of South Sudan boys ‘kidnapped to be child soldiers’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hundreds of boys in South Sudan have been kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers, the United Nations children’s agency says.<\/p>\n
The figure is a big increase from the 89 children reported abducted by Unicef last month.<\/p>\n
Their latest statement blamed a militia group allied to the government.<\/p>\n
South Sudan is in a state of civil war with forces loyal to President Salva Kiir pitted against rebels led by former Vice-President Riek Machar.<\/p>\n
The campaign group Human Rights Watch has accused both sides of using child soldiers.<\/p>\n
Unicef said the boys were abducted by the Shilluk Militia, under the control of Johnson Oloni. The government has previously said it has no control over the group.<\/p>\n
“We fear [the children] are going from the classroom to the front line,” said Unicef’s representative in South Sudan, Jonathan Veitch.<\/p>\n
Witnesses report seeing children as young as 12 carrying guns, according to the UN.<\/p>\n
The seizure of the boys happened in an area known as Wau Shilluk, in oil-rich Upper Nile state.<\/p>\n
The UN believes 12,000 children were used as child soldiers across South Sudan last year.<\/p>\n
About 1.5 million people have been displaced by the fighting in the country and 2.5 million are facing severe food shortages.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hundreds of boys in South Sudan have been kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers, the United Nations children’s agency says. The figure is a big increase from the 89 children reported abducted by Unicef last month. Their latest statement blamed a militia group allied to the government. South Sudan is in a state of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":95381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"\n