The Associated Press
CAIRO — A rights group says Yemen’s Houthi rebels are recruiting fighters as young as 15, including by using religious schools to lure teenagers into their ranks without their parents’ knowledge.
Amnesty International described the “appalling” practices in a report released Tuesday, citing family members of four boys, aged 15 and 17, who were recruited by the rebels.
Samah Hadid, deputy director at Amnesty International’s Beirut office, called on the Houthis to halt such recruitment and release the child soldiers, saying “this is a shameful and outrageous violation of international law.”
The conflict in Yemen pits the rebels, who control the capital and much of the country’s north, against a Saudi-led coalition fighting to restore the internationally recognized government.
