This [1] Christian Science Monitor report about the standoff in Najaf blandly reports that children are inside the Shrine of Ali as human shields. Or at least one child. (Thanks to "[2] Allah" for the link.)

Inside the shrine itself, there were no weapons to be seen, but there were hundreds of Mahdi Army supporters, some of them familiar faces from a demonstration one week ago in Baghdad. They were voluntary human shields, the youngest perhaps 8 years old, the oldest 70.