DUBAI: Yemen’s minister of information shared new evidence of how the Houthi militia are still recruiting children into their military ranks to fight in the country’s grinding civil war, despite an agreement with the United Nations in April to halt the practice.
Minister Muammar Al-Iryani shared on his Twitter account shocking scenes from a Houthi militant camp established “to lure, recruit and train children under the age of 10”.
He wrote, as a caption for the footage he shared, that these were scenes of tens of children marching at the so-called “summer centers” where they are prepared as fighting soldiers before being deployed to front lines as part of a buildup of forces.
He said this was happening despite a UN brokered peace deal in April and efforts to maintain calm.
“The terrorist Houthi militia escalates the recruitment of children in areas under its control and is pushing them into the front lines at a time of surprising and unjustified international silence,” Iryani added in another tweet.
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Several hundred children, including those as young as 10 years, have been recruited over the past two months by the Houthi, the Associated Press earlier reported.
The Houthis have used what they call “summer camps” to disseminate their religious ideology and to recruit boys to fight. Such camps take place in schools and mosques around the Houthi-held part of Yemen, which encompasses the north and center of the country and the capital, Sanaa.
Abdel-Bari Taher, a Yemeni commentator and former head of the country’s Journalists’ Union, said that the Houthis are exploiting local customs to the children’s and society’s detriment. Having or carrying a weapon is a tradition deeply rooted in Yemen, especially in rural and mountainous communities, Associated Press quoted him as saying.
“It is a source of pride and kind of manhood for the boys,” he said.
(with AP)