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| Iraq |
| Iraq: Kids clamour for (toy) guns as Eid gifts |
| 2007-10-16 |
| Quagmire! Baghdad (AKI) - During the Islamic festival of Eid-ul-fitr, marking the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, children in the Iraqi capital have been asking for compressed-air guns and rifles from their parents as presents. The children's preferred game is to 'recreate' the daily clashes on streets of their neighbourhoods between warring factions and US troops, reported Kuwaiti daily al-Watan. The mother of a 12 year old child says that her son asked for two costumes, one a US military uniform and the other a black one, like that worn by the Shia militia Jaish al-Mahdi. In one incident, a child dressed like an American soldier ended up in hospital after being injured during a mock battle with his cousin dressed in the Jaish al-Mahdi costume. According to toy vendors, sales of compressed-air guns and rifles have skyrocketed, while at the same time hospitals have treated a rising number of children for injuries to their faces and the eyes from rubber pellets. Not to mention the airsoft VIED. Parents have accused toy vendors of selling real guns as toys, while the vendors claim the children merely want to reproduce what they see and hear on the streets. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #1 It will be fun and games until someone puts out a eye. Doesn't this qualify as child abuse? What happened, they run out of Candy and Chocolate? |
| Posted by: Delphi 2007-10-16 14:33 |