NEW YORK CITY, New York: Some 1,500 children recruited by Yemen’s Houthi rebels died in fighting in 2020, as well as hundreds more the following year, according to the United Nations.
In a 300-page report to the Security Council, experts said rebels were still recruiting children, by using summer camps and a mosque to spread their ideology, adding that air strikes on the rebels by Saudi-led forces were inflicting many civilian casualties.
Since the war began in 2015, more than 10,000 children have been killed, along with many thousands of adults, as a result of the fighting, with millions being displaced and on the brink of famine.
The panel also said it had received a list of 1,406 children recruited by the Houthis who had died on the battlefield in 2020, and 562 between January and May in 2021.
The Associated Press reported on the four-member panel of experts saying, “The children are instructed to shout the Houthi slogan ‘Death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam’.”
The report called on all parties ‘to refrain from using schools, summer camps and mosques to recruit children” and recommended sanctions for those who does not comply.
“All military and paramilitary forces loyal to the Sanaa-based authorities fall under this definition,” it added.
On 21st January, an air strike on a detention centre in Houthi-held Saada killed more than 70 people, prompting the UN and the U.S. to call for an end to the conflict.
