U.S.-Backed Rebels Use Kid Troops

Syrian opposition groups backed by the west are recruiting and using children in support and combat positions, according to a Tuesday report from the United Nations. It also found that the violations against children were concentrated to Syrian government troops in the war's early stages, but later, as opposition bulked up, they committed a growing number of child abuses. "Of particular concern were cases of recruitment or attempted recruitment of children within refugee populations in neighboring countries," Ban Ki-moon wrote in the report. "The majority of incidents were related to recruitment by Free Syrian Army-affiliated groups or Syrian Kurdish armed groups."