Children as young as 10 fight, kill and die in Yemen’s war

MARIB, Yemen — The number etched on the bracelet around Mohammed’s wrist gave the 13-year-old soldier comfort as missiles fired from enemy warplanes shook the earth beneath him. Naguib al-Saadi, a Yemeni human rights activist who founded a Saudi-funded counseling center in Marib for child warriors, said “the real problem with Houthi recruitment of the children will be felt in 10 years — when a generation that has been brainwashed with hatred and enmity toward the West comes of age.” ___ ‘FIREWOOD FOR THIS WAR’ The war began after Houthi rebels swept down from the northern highlands in late 2014, seizing the capital, Sanaa, and then pushing south. The panel said it had information that coalition forces had targeted “particularly vulnerable children” living in displacement camps and “offered significant payments for child recruits.” The report said coalition units “frequently used children in support roles, although they have also been used in combat on the front lines.” The panel noted that nearly two-thirds of the child soldiers identified by the U.N. in 2017 were deployed by the Houthis and their allies. “Some of the children are motivated by the desire to take revenge, thinking it’s better to take action and fight with honor instead of getting killed inside our homes.” When they try to join, he said, Houthi leaders “send them back home.” He dismissed the accounts from the children who spoke to the AP, saying their claims were coalition propaganda. “When you get out of the culture center, you don’t want to go home anymore,” said Mohammed, the boy who served with the Houthis from ages 13 to 15.