2,000 Children Recruited To Fight for Houthis Killed Over 18 Months, UN Says
Some 2,000 children recruited by the Houthi rebels in Yemen have been killed between January 2020 and May 2021, according to a United Nations report distributed on Saturday to the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, the report said, the Houthis are continuing to violate a UN arms embargo.
The 300-word report said that the Houthis reported children fighters in summer camps in schools and in mosques, where they are taught to shout the Houthi slogan “death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.” The Houthis reportedly provided or withheld humanitarian aid to families based on whether their children participated in fighting, or to teachers based on whether they taught the Houthi curriculum.
According to the report, the Houthis continue “to source critical components for their weapon systems from companies in Europe and Asia, using a complex network of intermediaries to obscure the chain of custody.” It does not confirm that Iran is directly involved in providing arms or arms components.