Lost Youth of Afghan Child Soldiers

In the decades of war that followed the Soviet invasion of 1979, many underage soldiers were deployed to the front lines of a series of conflicts.

Many lost their lives, while others were left seriously disabled. IWPR interviewed former child soldier, Nur Ahmad, from the Sholgara district in the northern Balkh region, who was recruited to fight at the age of 16.

Yaqub Azorda is an IWPR-trained radio reporter in Afghanistan.

This radio report, in Dari, was produced under IWPR’s Afghan Witness Project, designed to promote transitional justice.