Warring factions in South Sudan have abducted as many as a thousand
more children, forcing them to fight as soldiers, military monitors said
Thursday.
The U.N. children's agency UNICEF estimates there are at least 13,000
child soldiers fighting in the country, and said last week that fighters have
carried out horrific crimes against children.
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| Child soldiers in South Sudan (seen above) are a common sight |
Recent attacks against children include castration and left to bleed
to death, gang rape until death, tying children together and slitting their
throats, and thrown into burning houses.
The IGAD report also said
government troops deliberately fired on some 30,000 civilians sheltering in a
U.N. peacekeeping base in Upper Nile's state capital Malakal in May.