U.S. Cuts Off Aid to Countries Where Rebel Forces Believed to Recruit and Train Child Soldiers

The United States has introduced a motion to cut off military aid to Rwanda and four other foreign countries because of their support for extremist groups thought to use child soldiers.

The sanctions also target the Central African Republic, Myanmar, Sudan and Syria, the State Department told Reuters on Thursday. It is still not clear whether these four countries currently receive assistance from the United States.

"Our goal is to work with countries who have been listed to ensure that any involvement in child soldiers - any involvement in the recruitment of child soldiers - stop," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.

Spokesperson for the State Department Marie Harf told Reuters that Rwanda had been cut off because of its "support for the M23, an extremist group which continues to actively recruit and abduct children" in addition to putting the stability of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in danger. M23 is a primarily Tutsi rebel organization comprised of former Congolese soldiers that started seizing certain areas in the eastern Congo in 2012. M23 has accused the government of ignoring a peace deal from 2009.

The United States will cut off International Military Education and Training funds for Rwanda, which supports the training of foreign militaries. Rwanda will also not receive U.S. Foreign Military Financing, which provides money for U.S. army services and arms.

A spokesperson for the Rwanda Defense Forces told Reuters that his nation shouldn't suffer for the actions of extremist groups.

"It is surprising that Rwanda would be liable for matters that are neither on its territory, nor in its practices," Brigadier General Joseph Nzabamwita told Reuters. "As a long term partner of the Rwanda Defense Forces, the United States has ample evidence that our forces have never tolerated the use of children in combat...Rwanda's commitment to a sustainable solution that seeks to bring an end to the DRC conflict and its consequences, including the use of child soldiers, remain unchanged."

He also added that Rwanda and the United States' relationship is still strong, and that his nation will rely on its troops to enforce the "highest standards of professionalism and discipline."

State Department spokesperson Harf said she did not know whether Syria received any American military assistance, but stated that she didn't think rebel forces in Damascus or Myanmar got such aid.

Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo were given partial waivers, one anonymous State Department official told Reuters. Chad, South Sudan and Yemen - three countries that are known to recruit and train child soldiers - were given waivers from the sanctions. The Obama administration has ruled these kinds of exemptions to be "in the national interest of the United States," the official stated.

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