Some 280 children released by armed group in S.Sudan

A group of 280 children, some formerly recruited by an armed group in South Sudan, were released Tuesday, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said, adding more children are to be freed.

"The first group of 280 children were released today, at the village of Gumuruk in Jonglei State, eastern South Sudan. Further phased releases of the other children will occur over the coming month," said UNICEF, which helped to secure the children's release.

The agency said that the children, recruited by the South Sudan Democratic Army Cobra Faction, aged from 11 to 17 years old. Some children have been fighting for up to four years and many have never attended school.

The children surrendered their weapons and uniforms in a ceremony overseen by the South Sudan National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission, and the Cobra Faction and supported by UNICEF.

In the last year, 12,000 children, mostly boys, have been recruited and used as soldiers by armed forces and groups in South Sudan as a whole, said the agency.

Fighting broke out in South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of attempting a coup. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, driven 1.5 million South Sudanese from their homes and left almost 5 million in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

On Jan. 21, the rival factions of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed a peace deal in northern Tanzania's capital of Arusha.

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