I
will post information about child soldiers in the Syrian Civil War from several
news sources.
12-year-old Midyan Abu Al-Qa'qa is a Child
Soldier and he is a sniper.
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INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Watch-Syrian-child-sniper-discusses-killing-soldiers-Theres-nothing-to-it-375734
Watch:
Syrian child sniper discusses killing soldiers: There's nothing to it
By
JPOST.COM STAFF
09/18/2014
"I killed my first soldier on this front. When I killed him, I didn't feel anything. He was the first, but then came a second, and a third. I've gotten used to being a sniper."
The
Syrian civil war, well into its third year, has not only claimed more than 190,000
lives and displaced millions of people from their homes, it has turned a number
of children into soldiers, unmoved by taking the life of another.
A Lebanese television report, broadcast this week and translated by MEMRI, tells the story of these child soldiers, who "arrive here as children and quickly turn into killing machines."
The report focuses on 12-year-old Midyan Abu Al-Qa'qa, who voluntarily joined the ranks of rebel fighters, after his father was killed in battle in the south of Idlib.
The
boy operates as a sniper at the Wadi Deifr Camp, east of Maarat Al-Nu'man.
"I get up in the morning and try to shoot some soldiers. Sometimes I manage to shoot one or two, and sometimes I don't. There's nothing to it. I feel fine," Midyan told the Lebanese station.
"I killed my first soldier on this front. When I killed him, I didn't feel anything. He was the first, but then came a second, and a third. I've gotten used to being a sniper," he said.
"I get up in the morning and try to shoot some soldiers. Sometimes I manage to shoot one or two, and sometimes I don't. There's nothing to it. I feel fine," Midyan told the Lebanese station.
"I killed my first soldier on this front. When I killed him, I didn't feel anything. He was the first, but then came a second, and a third. I've gotten used to being a sniper," he said.
The report quoted a veteran rebel soldier as saying that "children make the best soldiers. When you give them orders, they obey. They never doubt anything."
Midyan expressed the belief that he is fighting for a just cause. "We will continue the revolution until we win or become martyrs."
PSL
rifle
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12-year-old Midyan Abu Al-Qa'qa is a Child
Soldier and he is a sniper.
[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Watch-Syrian-child-sniper-discusses-killing-soldiers-Theres-nothing-to-it-375734]
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INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/lauretta-brown/syrian-child-sniper-when-i-killed-him-i-didn-t-feel-anything-0
Syrian Child Sniper: ‘When
I Killed Him, I Didn’t Feel Anything’
September
19, 2014 - 4:41 PM
Syrian
Child Soldiers
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(CNSNews.com) –A Lebanese television
channel recently aired a special on child soldiers, featuring an interview with
a 12-year-old sniper who joined a group fighting in opposition to Syrian
President Bashar Assad after his father was killed on the battlefield.
“I get up in the morning and try to shoot
some soldiers,” Midyan Abu Al-Qa’qa’ says on the program, which was translated from LDC TV by
the Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI).
“Sometimes I manage to shoot one or two,
and sometimes I don’t. There’s nothing to it. I feel fine. I killed my first
soldier on this front. When I killed him, I didn’t feel anything. He was the
first, but then came a second, and a third…I’ve gotten used to being a sniper,” the
pre-teen says.
(MEMRI) posted a portion of the special on YouTube:
[video:1]
According to the video's narrator, Midyan
“voluntarily joined the ranks of the fighters after his father was killed in
battle in the south of Idlib.” He currently is a sniper in the Wadi Deif Camp,
which is located east of Maarat Al-Nu’man in northwestern Syria.
“We will continue the revolution until we win or
become martyrs,” Midyan tells the reporters.
The video also shows other child soldiers, and
quotes a Syrian veteran who says, “Children make the best soldiers. When you
give them orders, they obey. They never doubt anything.”
The narrator describes the circumstances under
which thousands of child soldiers under the age of 18 become soldiers.
“Sometimes they are urged to come by
those older than them, but in most cases, they arrive on their own accord, in
order to fight for the sake of their families and their country, Syria,” the
narrator says.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report
in June accusing Syrian armed groups of violating international law by using
children as soldiers, noting that “conscripting or enlisting children under 15,
including for support roles, is a war crime under the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court.”
HRW detailed the experiences of 25 Syrian child
soldiers such as “Majed,” 16, who told HRW that Jabhat al-Nusra in Daraa
recruited him and other boys in his community by providing free schooling at a
local mosque that included military training and target practice.
He said that commanders asked children as well as
adults to sign up for suicide attacks. “Sometimes fighters volunteered, and
sometimes [commanders] said, ‘Allah chose you.’”
Seventeen-year-old “Saleh” told HRW that he began
fighting with the Free Syrian Army at 15 after being detained and tortured by
government security forces. He later joined two other armed groups.
“I thought of leaving [the fighting] a lot,” he
said. “I lost my studies, I lost my future, I lost everything.”
Thousands of children have taken up arms in the
region.
“The Syrian Network for Human Rights estimates
there are about 5,300 child fighters among the opposition,” the Los Angeles
Times reports,
“not including extremist groups such as Al Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front or
Islamic State, and 2,000 with pro-government forces, most between the ages of
14 and 17.”
Syrian armed groups shouldn’t prey on vulnerable
children – who have seen their relatives killed, schools shelled, and
communities destroyed – by enlisting them in their forces,” said
Priyanka Motaparthy, HRW's Middle East children’s rights researcher and author
of the report.
“The horrors of Syria’s armed conflict are only
made worse by throwing children into the front lines.”
Syrian
Child Soldier: "I've Gotten Used to Killing Soldiers."
Published on Sep 18, 2014
Lebanese channel LDC TV aired on September 13 a
news report about the phenomenon of child soldiers in Syria. The report
included an interview with 12-year-old Midyan, who had become a sniper in the
ranks of the Syrian opposition after his father was killed in battle.
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtniLfZkaW0
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