UN: 2,000 children recruited by Yemen's rebels died fighting
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
In the report to the UN Security Council circulated Saturday, the experts said they investigated some summer camps in schools and a mosque where the Houthis disseminated their ideology and sought to recruit children to fight in the seven-year war with Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition."The children are instructed to shout the Houthi slogan 'death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam,'" the four-member panel of experts said. "In one camp, children as young as 7 years of age were taught to clean weapons and evade rockets."The experts said they documented 10 cases where children were taken to fight after being told they would be enrolled in cultural courses or were already taking such courses, nine cases where humanitarian aid was provided or denied to families "solely on the basis whether their children participated in fighting or to teachers on the basis of whether they taught the Houthi curriculum," and one case where sexual violence was committed against a child who underwent military training. "They were aged between 10 and 17 years old," the experts said, and "a significant number" of them were killed in Amran, Dhamar, Hajjah, Hodeida, Ibb, Saada and Sanaa. The panel of experts said the Houthis have continued their aerial and maritime attacks on Saudi Arabia, with targets close to the border most at risk and usually attacked several times a week with a combination of unmanned drones and short-range artillery rockets. But the rebels also continue to strike deep inside Saudi Arabia less frequently using longer-range drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, they said. The annual UN report, covering the year to December 5, 2021, said the Houthis and paramilitary forces loyal to them continue to violate a UN arms embargo."Most types of un-crewed aerial vehicles, waterborne improvised explosive devices and short-range rockets are assembled in Houthi-controlled areas using locally available materials, as well as commercial components, such as engines and electronics, which are sourced from abroad using a complex network of intermediaries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia," the panel said. The experts said ev idence shows that weapons components and other military equipment "continue to be supplied overland to the Houthi forces by individuals and entities based in Oman."Oman, which borders Yemen, remains neutral in the war and is the only regional country other than Iran to maintain relations with the Houthis.