Assad regime and its Shia militias used to recruit children in battles against opposition fighters in the pro-Assad village of al-Fuaa in Idlib countryside, video footage published by SMART news agency showed.
A group of children aged between 12 and 17 spoke in the video footage, confessing that they were taking part in the battles against opposition fighters. And when they were asked whether they were young to be armed, they said: “No we are not.”
Mustafa al-Zeen, 16, from the town of al-Fuaa, said, “I have been armed for two years now. I have participated in all battles against opposition fighters”.
"I used to receive 72.000 Syrian Pounds every month from Assad regime for my role in the battles. I used to basically reload the guns for the fighters in the front lines," another child said.
The children were interviewed while the swap deal, reached between Assad regime and Tahrir al-Sham, was being implemented on April, 20, 2017.
Unicef warned of a lost generation in Syria, saying children under the age of 18 were growing up knowing nothing but violence, were being deprived of a right to an education and were suffering traumas that could scar them for life
