Young guns: thousands of children forced to fight in Darfur

By Miriam Mannak

His eyes are hollow and empty, his hands rest on the rifle that is slung around his shoulders. He can't be older then eleven years old - this little Sudanese boy whom is portrayed on a picture which a befriended photographer took sometime last year. Yet, this youngster has probably seen more than we can ever comprehend. He is a child soldier in Darfur, the southern region of Sudan.

The boy on the picture is not the sole child that has been drawn into one of the bloodiest conflicts on the African continent. According to the UN, about 6000 child soldiers are involved in the war in Darfur. They are being recruited by all parties involved.

"The number of children (soldiers) that we estimate exist in Sudan is 8.000 children. Of the 8,000 children, we estimated that 6.000 are in Darfur," said Ted Chaiban of the UNited Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"That doesn't mean they're all carrying guns and fighting, but they are present with armed groups and we have seen virtually with every one of the forces children in uniform and children carrying weapons."

The maority of the child soldiers identified by UNICEF were between 15 and 17 years ofage, although some wehere eleven years and younger.

The war in Darfur, which has carried on non-stop for the past six years, has affected almost four million people - of whom half are children. The conflict started when mostly non-Arab rebels kicked off an offensive against the government in 2003. They accused the authorities of neglecting the Darfur region. In response to the attacks, the government kicked off a campaign to crush the revolt.