Armed Groups in South Sudan Release 145 Child Soldiers

A total of 145 were released by armed groups in South Sudan, according to the statement of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A total of 145 child soldiers were released on Wednesday by the South Sudanese armed groups that were recruiting them to fight the government, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

"145 children released by armed groups in #SouthSudan today. Now to reunite them with their families and help them resume childhoods," UNICEF wrote on Twitter.

145 children were released by armed groups in #SouthSudan today https://t.co/LChNVL3IUL #childrennotsoldiers pic.twitter.com/0Ifph6KfTB

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) October 26, 2016

​UNICEF said that it was the largest number of children freed since 2015, when 1,775 children were released in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.

According to Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF’s representative in South Sudan, around 16,000 children are still in armed groups.

An armed ethnic conflict erupted in South Sudan in December 2013, one year and a half after the nation gained independence from Sudan, when President Salva Kiir accused Vice-President Riek Machar of preparing a military coup.

Aid organizations estimate more than four million people have been displaced and 300,000 killed in the ensuing violence.