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Militants Kidnap Almost 90 Children in South Sudan - UNICEF

© AP Photo / Matthew AbbottRebel soldiers guard the village of Majieng, about 6km from the town of Bentiu, in South Sudan
Rebel soldiers guard the village of Majieng, about 6km from the town of Bentiu, in South Sudan - Sputnik International
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According to the United Nations Children's Fund, militants surrounded the Wau Shilluk community in South Sudan's northeast, going through each house and taking children by force.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — An armed group kidnapped 89 boys older than 12 in South Sudan, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement published Saturday.

Rebel soldiers guard the village of Majieng, about 6km from the town of Bentiu, in South Sudan - Sputnik International
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According to the organization's witnesses, militants surrounded the Wau Shilluk community in the country's northeast Upper Nile area, going through each house and taking children by force.

The statement quoted Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF representative in the region, as decrying the destruction of families and communities by way of recruiting children into armed conflict.

"Children are exposed to incomprehensible levels of violence, they lose their families and their chance to go to school," Veitch said.

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The latest wave of violence that claimed thousands of lives in South Sudan dates back to December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused opposition leader Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

Among other human rights abuses the UN Security Council documented in South Sudan, the recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups in the country was highlighted as the most pressing issue.

In January, almost 300 child soldiers were released from the South Sudan rebel group led by David Yau Yau.

Following the release, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui said that "thousands more" children remained in the ranks of the various warring parties in South Sudan.

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