JUBA, South Sudan — The U.N. children’s agency said on Saturday that hundreds of children were abducted two weeks ago by an armed group in South Sudan that is suspected of having ties with the country’s military.
UNICEF had previously said about 89 boys, some as young as 13, were forcibly recruited by an armed group near the town of Malakal, the capital of the Upper Nile state, in mid-February. The agency said the boys were taken while doing their exams.
UNICEF said in a statement Saturday that it is “confident that the armed group which took the children … is aligned with” South Sudan’s military. It said the group is led by Johnson Oloni, a general who once fought against the government but joined the national army in 2013.
A weekly situation report on humanitarian affairs in South Sudan said “more than 1,000” men and children were pressed into armed service. South Sudan’s government has condemned the abductions and said an investigation is underway.
