Colombia: National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels recruit girls
The National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia’s second-biggest guerrilla group, is recruiting girls to charge extortion payments from illegal miners and is giving them weapons, El Tiempo newspaper has reported.
The newspaper said that in a rebel video, which the Colombian army says it seized during a raid on an ELN jungle camp last January, around 15 girls aged 13 to 17 are shown holding AK-47 assault rifles and M-60 machine guns. They are dressed in camouflage uniforms with ELN insignia.
“They (ELN) attract youths with small gifts and make them believe that in guerrilla ranks they are going to have everything they need, “an anonymous military source is quoted as saying in El Tiempo.”