Rebels Free Nearly 600 Child Soldiers
Hundreds of child soldiers celebrated their release from the ranks of Sierra Leone’s rebels, some setting their old uniforms ablaze and dancing around the flames.
Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front surrendered 581 boys, some as young as 6, to the United Nations, in the latest release of child soldiers under a week-old cease-fire. Ten girls, ages 6 to 11, also were freed.
The U.N., meanwhile, confirmed new attacks by ragtag militias fighting the rebels in the east. Some suspect that the militias were trying to take rebel-held diamond fields.
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