By Antonio Pampliega DAILY STAR, LEBANON
SUMMARY
A Syrian youth holds an AK-47 assault rifles as he takes part in a military training on January 23, 2013 at a former school turned into a “military academy” in Tlaleen in the northern Syria’s Aleppo province. AFP PHOTO/JM LOPEZ
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Feb-06/205251-syria-rebels-train-killing-machine-teenagers.ashx#ixzz2KCCmdt00
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Syria rebels train ‘killing machine’ teenagers
Bored at home and eager to join their older brothers and fathers on the frontline against President Bashar al-Assad’s army, Syrian teenagers are joining the rebel cause, oblivious to international laws prohibiting child combattants.
Abdel Razzaq’s “military academy” is a former school, located in northern Syria’s Aleppo province.
Rights groups have frequently accused both the regime and the rebels of rights abuses in a war that has left more than 3,500 children dead, according to monitors.
Distributed by the media or even by rebel groups turning child soldiers into trophies, several videos have shown young boys brandishing Kalashnikovs and other weapons.
One video shot in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor showed a young boy holding an automatic rifle, as rebels fired their weapons nearby.
Another video widely circulated by regime supporters showed shocking images of a young boy surrounded by men identified as rebels
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)