Child soldiers in Yemen

The United Nations says nearly 2,000 children recruited by Yemeni Houthi rebels have been killed on the battlefield.
 
In an annual Security Council report released Saturday, UN experts said there was evidence that Houthis were using several summer camps and a mosque to spread their ideology and recruit children to fight the Yemeni government.

 The four-member panel of experts said the children were instructed to shout Houthi slogans such as "Death to America, death to Israel, curse to the Jews, victory to Islam."

 In one of the camps, 7-year-olds are taught how to use untrained weapons. The delegation also received a list of 1,406 children recruited by the Houthis, who were killed in the war in 2020. Also, according to statistics, 562 children were killed between January and May 2021 alone.

Yemeni children have been the biggest victims during the years of civil war in the country. War and insecurity have spread famine and starvation in the country, children's educational opportunities have been severely curtailed by the war, and many are forced to work in dangerous and unsuitable environments to provide for their families.

Houthi groups exploit financial need and extreme poverty, families, and children are sent to the battlefields. The Yemeni war is getting bigger every day. International human rights groups have expressed serious concern about the plight of Yemeni children. Despite all the suffering that has befallen Yemeni children over the past few years, their use as armed forces is a complete violation of human rights and is unacceptable.

_{Source and Credit: BBC, CNN, GUARDIAN}