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An August 2003 peace agreement ended the fourteen-year civil war in Liberia that used many child soldiers in both government and opposition forces, causing around 21,000 children needing to be restored into Liberian society after being granted freedom.

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Children serve in the ranks of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and attack, kill, and rape civillians. The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently issued warrants for the arrest of Ugandan LRA leaders, but the ICC has no police force to arrest these them and they remain free.

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Children often witness and commit outrageous barbarity including amputations and beheadings, rape, and burning people alive. Those that survive their experience are often left with severe mental health problems.

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A fourteen-year-old sniper in Afghanistan shot the first U.S. soldier killed in the war on terrorism and in 2003, more than six Afghan boys aged thirteen to sixteen were captured by the U.S. and sent to a particular facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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Along with weapons becoming more lethal, they have become lighter, much smaller, and easy to use, such that a ten-year-old can learn to adequately fire an AK-47 in half an hour.

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Some children enlist for revenge on those who have abused or murdered their family.

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"The majority of child soldiers volunteer, though they often do so because it is their best option for survival."

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Almost 30 percent of armed forces using children include girls. Other than fighting, girls are often sexual abused, and sometimes taken as mistresses by army leaders. Human Rights Watch reports having interviewed girls who were impregnated by their commanders, then forced into combat with their babies strapped to their backs."

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Children are very effective in wars because they can be easily manipulated, confusing to the opponent in battle, and serve as suicide bombers, minesweepers, messengers, and bomb-markers.

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About 300,000 children are believed to be involved in thirty conflicts worldwide. Nearly half a million children serve in armies not currently at war, making it that 40 percent of the world's armed forces have children in their ranks.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) defines child soldiers as "any child—boy or girl—under eighteen years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity."