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            UNICEF: Armed Men Abduct at Least 89 Boys in South Sudan

   At least 89 boys have been abducted in South Sudan's restive Upper Nile
   state, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Saturday.

   The U.N. agency said the boys, some as young as 13, were taking
   exams in Wau Shilluk, a town about 12 miles northeast of the state
   capital, Malakal, when they were taken by armed men. UNICEF also
   cited witnesses to the mass abduction who said "armed soldiers" went
   house to house in the town and forced any boys over the age of 12 to go
   with them.

   Thousands of children have been forced by the government and rebel
   groups to fight as child soldiers since South Sudan erupted in violence
   in December 2013, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report
   released last month.

   It is unclear who was behind the abductions in Wau Shilluk, but
   UNICEF's representative in South Sudan, Jonathan Veitch, called for the
   children to be released immediately.

   "The recruitment and use of children by armed forces destroys families
   and communities. Children are exposed to incomprehensible levels of
   violence. They lose their families and their chance to go to school,"
   Veitch said.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/south-sudan-boys-abducted-upper-nile-
   unicef/2653440.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/south-sudan-boys-abducted-upper-nile-unicef/2653440.html