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US drops Iraq from list of countries that recruit children for war

Iraq has been dropped from the US list of countries accused of recruiting children for war, which is an achievement for Iraq on the road to keeping its society away from violence.
Displaced Iraqi children who fled their homes with their families play outside Hammam al-Alil camp south of Mosul, Iraq April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTS12SFT
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BAGHDAD — On June 27, the US Department of State’s Human Trafficking Report for 2017 took Iraq off its list, after the country had been listed in 2016 for recruiting children into combat.

The move raises questions about what Iraq could have done to get Washington to take this positive position for Baghdad, despite Human Rights Watch's having said in a report issued Aug. 30, 2016, that tribal militias backed by the Iraqi government recruit children to fight the Islamic State (IS).

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