Episode description

“We spoke to relatives of a boy who was seen carrying ammunition. The relatives say this boy had been kidnapped during a January attack in another village. The uncle and aunt of the boy were shocked to see how much confidence he showed operating as a child soldier” – Zenaida Machado, Human Rights Watch In today’s episode, Alan Kasujja revisits the conflict in Mozambique because it’s now emerged that insurgents are using children in their operations. Human Rights Watch says youngsters, some as young as 13, were recently ordered to raid and loot the town of Macomia, in Cabo Delgado province. The recruitment and use of children as soldiers is a war crime. Alan attempts to understand why the Southern African Development Community, despite deploying troops to Mozambique, is failing to quell the violence. Also, with these soldiers withdrawing from Cabo Delgado, how will it affect local communities?