GUMURUK , South Sudan, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Three thousand children, recruited as rebel soldiers in South Sudan, will be released, United Nations officials said Tuesday.
They are among an estimated 12,000 children, mostly boys between 11 and 17, used as a rebel militia in South Sudan's ethnic and political conflict. The first 280 turned in their uniforms in the village of Gumuruk Tuesday under the direction of the UNICEF officials, who said the rest would disarm in the next several weeks.