The boys are being trained to fight. As for the girls: “Unfortunately also you’ll have the female children sexually abused or forcibly married by older men from Pakistan, Afghanis, [Yemenis] and other foreign fighters in these shabab groups.”
“Somali children offered money to fight,” by Mahdi Haile for the American Chronicle, May 19:
According our source Children in Somalia are paid to join Shabab Militia We were on our way back from school when we met the Shabab. They made us carry some unknown luggages for them and then told us to go with them,” says a 14-year-old caught up in the recent unrest in Mogadishu.
Abdullahi Ali, whose name has been changed for his safety, said he and other children was paid a hundred of dollars as much as $800 to join the Shabab Militia.
But his story points to a disturbing new trend. When the Shabab saw me trying to escape they shot me and was left dead, but I survived and I am happy to escape and alive he said.
In the last few months, fighting between the government and Alshabab with foreign jihadist has escalated, and more and more children are being kidnapped and recruited to bolster numbers amongst the Shabab militia. ,
Abdirahman kadiye was one of a group of 10 children recruited by Shabab Militia who have escaped from Shabab and left from Kismayu to join his family in Mogadishu some two weeks ago.
He, his six classmates were abducted in what appears to be a well-planned attempt to find new recruits.
“When we got to the camps, the Shabab told to join the military forces. They took us and threw us in a hole. We were given the Militia outfits and told we had to wear them,” explains Kadiye[not his real name.
The two boys managed to escape after two days but not before they saw many other teenage boys in a similar position.
Schools
Recruitment for money and child soldiers is new in Somalia, but an employee of Aid organizations in Marka city Lower Juba who refused to be identified told us that they believes the armed militia groups are now targeting entire schools or groups of students
“We know that they’re being used as assassins, suicide bombers and grenade throwers that are very clear. We have reports of children having to transport arms right now. That’s very disturbing,” they say.
“Unfortunately also you’ll have the female children sexually abused or forcibly married by older men from Pakistan, Afghanis yemans and other foreign fighters in these shabab groups. Those are clearly some of the worst cases and then yes there are hundreds of girls missing from their families in Marka and Barawe of Lower Juba. Province. The boys might be trained as fighters — but girls go under all sorts of uses. I mean you can only imagine….