A recent report says whole classes of school children are abducted to fight for al-Shabab militia.

An increasing number of young school children are being abducted and trained to fight for al-Shabab militia in Somalia, the BBC has reported, quoting a report by Human Rights Watch, HRW. According to the author of the report released on Tuesday February 21, 2012, Laetitia Bader, the situation has grown worse over the last two years with entire classrooms of children - some as young as 10 – forced to fight for Islamist militants.

The report is based on interviews with more than 164 Somali children, including 21 who recently escaped from al-Shabab forces, as well as parents and teachers who had fled to neighbouring Kenya. Not only are the children abducted from schools, but also from their homes and play grounds, the BBC quoted the report as saying. A 15-year-old boy told HRW that out of his class of 100 boys, only two of them had successfully escaped from al-Shabab, with the rest killed in combat. Consequently, Laetitia Bader says no place is safe for children in war-torn Somalia.

Kidnapped children spend about three months in training camps where they are used as domestic workers and taught to use weapons and how to throw hand grenades. While in the camp, children are also forced to witness the assault and killing of supposed al-Shabab enemies, the BBC was told. Other children interviewed talked of bodies of children littering battle-fronts, Bader said. However, a majority of children being forced to join al-Shabab are between 14 and 17 years.

In a related development, the United Nations Security Council was yesterday February 22, 2012 expected to vote to increase the number of African Union peacekeeping troops in Somalia by more than 5,000 soldiers, diplomats said. The resolution will increase the number from 12,000 to just over 17,000.

Yesterday’s vote came ahead of an international conference on Somalia to be held in London. British Prime Minister, David Cameron, told the BBC that the threat from Somalia's al-Shabab militants was substantial. He said this was based on the fact that al-Shabab encourages violent jihad both within and outside Somalia and has openly boasted of its links with al-Qaeda.