UN Reports on Child Soldiers

A new United Nations report says children are being recruited and used as soldiers on a massive scale around the world.

Despite international efforts to ensure that children under 18 do not take part in wars, the report says youths are currently serving with nearly 50 armed groups in 15 countries.

The report urges U-N monitoring of conflicts to report any recruitment of children and propose possible Security Council sanctions that might include arms embargoes and freezing assets.

The report also charges that in some countries children are being deliberately killed and maimed. It notes that in Chechnya, rebels are using children to plant landmines and explosives.

In Colombia, it says many rural families flee their homes to prevent rebels from abducting their children.

In Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Northern Ireland and several African states, the report says children are still being recruited despite some claims the practice was being curtailed.

In Uganda, the report says rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army have abducted over eight thousand children over the past year, the highest abduction rate in 17 years of conflict. Meanwhile, the report says the government army and local militias have also recruited children, some who escaped or were rescued from the rebels.