11,000 children fight Colombia's civil war

[CShine]

Latin America is slowly becoming one of the most dangerous areas of the world for poor children. The number of minors involved in illegal military activities led by right wing paramilitaries and guerrilla groups in Colombia is rising and spreading to the nearby nations, UNICEF warned.

According to the UN Children"s Fund (UNICEF), militant groups are increasingly drafting children as soldiers across the region encouraged by lack of punishment for recruiting minors. All in all, the UN agency"s main concern is the situation in Colombia, where 11,000 children are fighting the 40-year long civil war between Marxist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitaries and the military.

According to UNICEF officials, Colombian militants are recruiting children from nearby nations as Ecuador to fight for them. This turns the situation even more explosive as means the internationalization of the dreadful practice, which by other means, has also spread to other countries as Brazil and Peru during the past years.

UNICEF says that in countries like Brazil, Colombia and Peru, children are also drafted into private urban armies that defend drug traffickers. This became evident during the last deadly narcos
uprising in a slum in Rio de Janeiro.

http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/12663_Columbia.html