London, Oct 19 (ANI): British military chiefs reportedly sent four child soldiers to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan despite a Government ban.
Military chiefs 'inadvertently' sent the youngsters, all under 18, to fight on the frontline. It is understood the teenagers were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan where they risked being shot or blown up by homemade bombs, the Daily Mail reports.
The revelation led to outrage in the country because according to a United Nations accord, Britain is not supposed to send children on to battlefields.he London-based charity Warchild said: "Using kids as soldiers constitutes one of the most horrendous breaches of those rights and it is simply and unequivocally wrong."
However, junior Defence Minister Andrew Robathan blamed the mistake on commanders preparing to send troops overseas.
Robathan, who was heavily criticised for failing to enshrine the Military Covenant in law before David Cameron personally intervened, said: "The pressures on units prior to deployment have meant there have been a small number of instances where service personnel have been inadvertently deployed to an operational theatre before their 18th birthday." (ANI)
|
|
Comments:
