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Photo-article-logo Friday, 06 February 2026

Children as young as 10 fight, kill and die in Yemen's war

The Houthis have inducted 18,000 child soldiers into their rebel army since 2014

AP Published 19.12.18, 08:27 AM
Morsal, 14, at a camp for displaced persons where he took shelter in Marib, Yemen. He said Houthi rebels took him from a soccer pitch where he was playing with his friends after school and forcibly enlisted him. He suffers from hearing loss from the sound of explosions and airstrikes.
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Morsal, 14, at a camp for displaced persons where he took shelter in Marib, Yemen. He said Houthi rebels took him from a soccer pitch where he was playing with his friends after school and forcibly enlisted him. He suffers from hearing loss from the sound of explosions and airstrikes.

AP
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The number etched on the bracelet around Mohammed's wrist gave the 13-year-old soldier comfort as missiles fired from enemy warplanes shook the earth beneath him.

For two years Mohammed fought with Yemen's Houthi rebels against a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States. He says he tortured and killed people and didn't care whether he lived or died.

But if he died, the bracelet would guarantee his body made it home. 'When I become a martyr, they enter my number in the computer, retrieve my picture and my name, then print them with the name 'Martyr' underneath,' Mohammed said. It would be pasted to the lid of his coffin for return to his family.

Mohammed was among 18 former child soldiers interviewed by The Associated Press who described the Houthis' unrelenting efficiency when it comes to the recruitment, deployment and even battlefield deaths of boys as young as 10.

While both sides in the four-year civil war have sent children into combat in violation of international human rights conventions, the Houthis are believed to have recruited many more than the coalition — often forcibly. The Houthis have inducted 18,000 child soldiers into their rebel army since the beginning of the war in 2014, a senior Houthi military official acknowledged to the AP. The United Nations was able to verify 2,721 children recruited to fight for all sides in the conflict, the large majority for the Houthis, but officials say that count is likely low, because many families will not speak about the issue out of fear of reprisals from Houthi militiamen.

Children play at a rehabilitation centre for former child soldiers in Marib, Yemen. Classes at the centre try to get the children to remember their lives before the civil war.
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Children play at a rehabilitation centre for former child soldiers in Marib, Yemen. Classes at the centre try to get the children to remember their lives before the civil war.

AP
A 17-year-old boy holds his weapon in High dam in Marib, Yemen. Experts say child soldiers are “the firewood” in the inferno of Yemen’s civil war, trained to fight, kill and die on the front lines. Though both sides in the war recruit children, the Houthi rebels rely on them the most.
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A 17-year-old boy holds his weapon in High dam in Marib, Yemen. Experts say child soldiers are “the firewood” in the inferno of Yemen’s civil war, trained to fight, kill and die on the front lines. Though both sides in the war recruit children, the Houthi rebels rely on them the most.

AP
Boys recite poems during a session at a rehabilitation centre for former child soldiers in Marib, Yemen. Their experiences in combat, including seeing bodies of the dead and charging into battle as missiles explode, have left many of the boys traumatised.
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Boys recite poems during a session at a rehabilitation centre for former child soldiers in Marib, Yemen. Their experiences in combat, including seeing bodies of the dead and charging into battle as missiles explode, have left many of the boys traumatised.

AP
Riyadh is a 13-year-old former child soldier forced to enlist by Houthi rebels. He said he and his younger brother once shot and killed enemy soldiers but most often, he closed his eyes tightly when he fired his rifle, terrified by combat.
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Riyadh is a 13-year-old former child soldier forced to enlist by Houthi rebels. He said he and his younger brother once shot and killed enemy soldiers but most often, he closed his eyes tightly when he fired his rifle, terrified by combat.

AP

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Yemen Houthi Yemen Child Soldiers
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