Child soldiers battle in worsening South Sudan war

"I want to go and kill," he said, holding a gun too big for his small frame. "I want to go to the place of war, because I want to fight with Dinka."

Dressed in civilian clothing and posing with rifles and machine guns grabbed from those they've killed, the White Army is loosely tied to Machar’s army, but follow their own informal command structures.

They are named after the white ash the fighters smear over their bodies, both as fearsome war paint and to ward off the mosquitoes that infest the vast roadless swamplands and grasslands they control.

For them, the war appears an ethnic not political struggle, a fight for revenge that promises to perpetuate a conflict in which thousands have already been killed and forced a million people to flee.

- No recruit too young -

Many pay no heed to dragging peace talks in Ethiopia, saying they will continue fighting until Kiir is out of power.

"If it means the people fight until the last man falls, then they will do that," said Koang Monying, a White Army commander in the former mission-station of Nasir in oil-rich Upper Nile State.

South Sudanese rebel leader and former vice president Riek Machar (C) in Nasir on April 14, 2014 (AF …

Monying insisted he was not actively recruiting children, but said there is no bar to membership for those that want to join.

"Some of these young boys are very bitter because they lost some of their relatives," he said, as scores of soldiers sang war songs, with the crackle of rifle fire as they shot in the air. "They decided to take up arms to carry out revenge."

Machar, speaking to AFP from his rebel hideout in Upper Nile, dodges the issue of his relationship with the White Army, claiming not to support child soldiers but admitting the force -- accused of massacre and rape -- are a "helping hand".

"We don't deny them, they are part of us, we fight alongside each other against the government forces, but we tell them what should not be done in warfare," Machar said.

White Army members say they are not fighting for Machar, whose political ambitions are far removed from their traditional cattle-herding lives.

"We are not fighting because of him, we are fighting because of what happened in Juba... it is revenge," said gun-toting fighter Dama Gatech, referring to massacres that took place when fighting first broke out.

But both the White Army and Machar's more regular forces -- defected soldiers from the government's army -- have scant resources, relying on stolen supplies.

"We were forced to fight, that's why now we don't have resources," said Garthoth Gatkuoth, rebel commander for Upper Nile, dressed in military fatigues and running shoes.

But dozens of White Army fighters still set off for the frontline each day, commanders say.

Nhial Lual, 35, is preparing to go to the oil fields as soon his gunshot wound from a previous battle heals, saying he has no qualms about killing his fellow countrymen.

"They are not my brothers," Lual said. "Regardless of how long it takes, even if it takes 10 years, I will defeat them."

Teenager Chuol said he wants to go back to school if the war ends, but for now will head to the frontline.

"I am not afraid," the slight boy said.

• Unrest, Conflicts & War
• Politics & Government
• White Army
• South Sudan
• Riek Machar

Source http://news.yahoo.com/child-soldiers-battle-worsening-south-sudan-war-202925867.html