Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Emmet Livingstone in Goma

‘I went to war. It was a nightmare’: how children have become ‘cannon fodder’ in DRC’s endless conflict

Three men wearing battle fatigues and carrying guns stand in a grassy field as two civilians walk away from them towards a river.
Members of the Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo (APCLS) militia on patrol in Kitshanga, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Photograph: Guerchom Ndebo/AFP/Getty Images

Despite her slight frame, Constance* carried a rocket-propelled grenade into battle against Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. She bears scars on her face from the hot bullet casings that flew through the air in the heat of combat.

Constance was 13 years old when she left her home in the hills of North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to join a militia. “I went to war,” she says, from a displacement camp near the regional capital, Goma. “It was a nightmare.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.