Child soldiers to be freed

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have agreed to rid their ranks of child soldiers, who have fought by the thousands during the country’s seven years of civil war, the United Nations says. The Houthis have signed what the UN described as an ‘‘action plan’’ to release the children in their ranks within six months. Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is operating in exile, has already made similar commitments. The UN says nearly 3500 children have been verified as being recruited and deployed in Yemen’s civil war. However, a senior Houthi military official told The Associated Press in 2018 that the group had inducted 18,000 child soldiers into its army by then, and former child soldiers said boys as young as 10 were recruited. At the time, a Houthi military spokesman denied any systematic recruiting of people under 18, and said there were orders to reject children who tried to join up. More than 10,200 children have been killed or maimed in the war, the UN says.