Somali Islamists Relying On Kids To Fight

Via The Jawa Report comes disturbing photos of children being used as soldiers in the Islamists fight against the Somali government. The photos come from the Somali government news agency. The caption for the above image states:

A 10 year-old Somali Islamist boy aims his AK 47 rifle at an Ethiopian military base nearby in North of the capital on Monday April 23, 2007. Fighting between Islamic insurgents and government troops backed by Ethiopian forces continues for the fifth straight day

At the feet of this kid are dozens of spent bullet casings. It's quite likely he's been doing much more than simply aiming his gun at Ethiopian or Somali government forces. He's been firing it.

This is what the Islamists do. They have no problem sending kids to fight in wars and don't give much thought to the consequences of having kids fighting their wars for them. Entire generations are being brought up on the belief that going to war is a normal thing and are deprived of a real childhood. Instead, they're nothing more than cannon fodder.

UPDATE:
Corrected the reference to the news agency involved in obtaining the photos.