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SYRIA ARMED GROUPS TRAIN 'KILLING MACHINE' TEENAGERS - AFP
tert.am
07.02.13
Bored at home and eager to join their older brothers and fathers
on the frontline against syrian army, Syrian teenagers are joining
the armed groups cause, oblivious to international laws prohibiting
child combattants.
"When they arrive here, they are children. By the time they leave,
they are killing machines," said Abdel Razzaq, a 38-year-old former
army sergeant who trains the boys.
"I train them not to be scared of war and not to hesitate when the
time comes to kill," he said, speaking of his latest group of 20
volunteers, aged 14 to 18.
"There are no more adult men in the villages. Now it's the children
who come for military training," said Abdel Razzaq.
He teaches his students how to handle a Kalashnikov, or AK-47 assault
rifle, the weapon most commonly used by the rebels.
He teaches them how to disarm a soldier and kill him with a knife or
even their bare hands.
"Children are the best soldiers I know. They obey every command. An
adult asks questions and answers back. But the children, they question
nothing," said Abdel Razzaq.
Abdel Razzaq's "military academy" is a former school, located in
northern Syria's Aleppo province. Before being sent off to the front,
the boys receive two hours of training a day for three months.
The boys' families are eager that they are trained well before they
are sent off to fight the army.
"Without proper training, they would die quickly," said Abdel Razzaq.
Fifteen-year-old Mohammed seems to have quickly learned how to assemble
and dismantle his Kalashnikov.
"Ready!" he said proudly, showing off to the instructor, a figure of
both respect and fear for the boys.
UNICEF child protection coordinator Jean-Nicolas Beuze told AFP that,
"unlike other conflicts, there is no active recruitment of children.
The youth come spontaneously, encouraged by their families."
But Beuze said "commanders have the obligation to turn them away."
International law prohibits the use of anyone under the age of 18
in combat and in military support operations, such as espionage,
transporting weapons or providing supplies to fighters.
The use of children "as combattants or as a support to combattants
constitutes a grave violation of children's rights," said Beuze.
tert.am
07.02.13
Bored at home and eager to join their older brothers and fathers
on the frontline against syrian army, Syrian teenagers are joining
the armed groups cause, oblivious to international laws prohibiting
child combattants.
"When they arrive here, they are children. By the time they leave,
they are killing machines," said Abdel Razzaq, a 38-year-old former
army sergeant who trains the boys.
"I train them not to be scared of war and not to hesitate when the
time comes to kill," he said, speaking of his latest group of 20
volunteers, aged 14 to 18.
"There are no more adult men in the villages. Now it's the children
who come for military training," said Abdel Razzaq.
He teaches his students how to handle a Kalashnikov, or AK-47 assault
rifle, the weapon most commonly used by the rebels.
He teaches them how to disarm a soldier and kill him with a knife or
even their bare hands.
"Children are the best soldiers I know. They obey every command. An
adult asks questions and answers back. But the children, they question
nothing," said Abdel Razzaq.
Abdel Razzaq's "military academy" is a former school, located in
northern Syria's Aleppo province. Before being sent off to the front,
the boys receive two hours of training a day for three months.
The boys' families are eager that they are trained well before they
are sent off to fight the army.
"Without proper training, they would die quickly," said Abdel Razzaq.
Fifteen-year-old Mohammed seems to have quickly learned how to assemble
and dismantle his Kalashnikov.
"Ready!" he said proudly, showing off to the instructor, a figure of
both respect and fear for the boys.
UNICEF child protection coordinator Jean-Nicolas Beuze told AFP that,
"unlike other conflicts, there is no active recruitment of children.
The youth come spontaneously, encouraged by their families."
But Beuze said "commanders have the obligation to turn them away."
International law prohibits the use of anyone under the age of 18
in combat and in military support operations, such as espionage,
transporting weapons or providing supplies to fighters.
The use of children "as combattants or as a support to combattants
constitutes a grave violation of children's rights," said Beuze.