Africa has the largest number of child soldiers. A 2004 estimate placed 100,000 child combatants involved with armed conflict.Nearly a dozen African nations, including Uganda, Chad, Sudan and Rwanda among others, are home to rebel armies that forcibly recruit children. One of the most notorious African guerilla armies is the Lord's Resistance Army, operating primarily out of Uganda, but also in Sudan and DR Congo. Joseph Kony, the rebel leader, proclaimed himself a vessel of the Holy Spirit in 1987, founding one of Africa's longest running and most atrocious military conflicts. The LRA's method of recruitment? Invading small towns late at night, LRA troops break into homes, forcing children to kill their parents as a sort of "initiation." Those who refuse to comply are massacred. The captured children are brought to military camps where they are beaten and starved. Those who survive to see combat have slits cut into their temples, where psychoactive drugs are then inserted directly into their brains. Joseph Kony convinces these children that his powers prevent bullets from harming them and allow them to turn stones into grenades. Believing they are invincible, the children charge blindly into combat, usually resulting in total slaughter. Kidnapped girls are used as sex slaves for the boy soldiers, handed out as a sort of "prize" to loyal soldiers. INTERPOL has issued several warrants for the arrest of LRA leaders, yet fighting continues to this day.
Child soldiers in the LRA.
Former child soldier and unfortunate victim of LRA atrocities.
LRA leader and self-proclaimed Christ, Joseph Kony.
To learn more and get involved, visit Invisible Children.
At this website you can preview and order the excellent documentary on Ugandan child soldiers, "Invisible Children," which comes highly reccommended by the Killer Kids! Blog.
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