They paid us to fight, say captured Houthi kids

Yemeni children captured by the Saudi-led Arab coalition and the national resistance while fighting with the Houthis and their allies say they have been paid to carry arms and join the war and that they only wanted to help their poor families.

“All of these children said they carried arms and joined the Houthis for money to help their families who were starving,” Yemen’s news network Masdar Online said.

The network said its reporter met many children taken as prisoners of war by the coalition and the national resistance in Aden, which was liberated last month.

It said one of those boys was 13-year-old Hisham, who told the reporter that he was given 20,000 Yemeni riyals by a field commander called Abu Khalid in Sanaa in June.

The boy said he was given a similar sum just before Aden was seized by the allies, adding that he and other children fighting with the Houthis were also given arms, ammunition and daily “food and Qat”.

“He told us that we were fighting Daesh and the US agents - Saudi Arabia and Israel… they said that we were allowed to loot anything we wanted.”

Masdar Online said there are 31 prisoners of war aged 13-15 years at a school held by the allies and the national resistance, adding that seven were released a few weeks ago in a swap with the Iranian-backed Houthis.

“These children were counting on the Houthis to make money and support their hungry families. Today they are accusing the Houthis of pushing them to die,” it said.

It quoted another prisoner, Bashir A.R as saying he had received intensive training at a Houthi military camp before he was sent to the battle field.

“They trained me on all types of weapons and fighting. They taught me all their ideas and beliefs so I will fully obey their orders,” said the 15-year-old Bashir, an orphan.

“I went to work for the Houthis as a Qat farmer when I was 10 years old.

“A few months later, I found myself in a military camp. When I was called to war, I could not refuse.

“I was sent on a military van to fight in Aden, where I was captured.”

 

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