Children form 60% of Al-Shabab fighters

United Nations, Jan. 20: UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres says he is alarmed at reports that children may constitute a large part of the force recruited and used by AlShabab Islamic extremists in Somalia.

Mr Guterres said it is estimated over half its force are children, citing as an example that at least 60 per cent of Al-Shabab “elements” captured in Somalia’s semiautonomous Puntland region in March 2016 were youngsters. Some of those children said they were approached with the promise of education and jobs, he said.

Somalia has been trying to rebuild after recently establishing its first functioning central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a longtime dictator and plunged the impoverished nation into chaos. But the country is riven by clan rivalries and threatened by Al-Shabab extremists opposed to Western-style democracy.

In a report to the Security Council circulated this week, the UN chief said alShabab used children in combat, with 9-year-olds reportedly taught to use weapons and sent to front lines. Children were also used to transport explosives, work as spies, carry ammunition or perform domestic chores, he said.

While Al-Shabab was the main perpetrator, the report said the Somali Army and other groups also recruited and used children.

According to the report, a task force in Somalia verified the recruitment and use of 6,163 children — 5,993 boys and 230 girls — during the period from April 1, 2010 to July 31, 2016, with over 30 per cent of the cases in 2012. After a downward trend in 2013 and 2014, the number of youngsters recruited increased to 903 in 2015 and to 1,092 in the first six months of 2016, it said.

Al-Shabab accounted for 70 per cent — or 4,213 — of verified cases, followed by the Somali National Army with 920 children recruited, it said.