Child soldiers, the new TikTok stars in Sudan

BarcelonaIn a TikTok video, a boy of about twelve years old runs through dusty paths carrying an AK-47. In the background, an expanse of bodies on the ground can be glimpsed. Shots are heard. In another, the same boy appears, also armed and surrounded by soldiers. "Allahu Akbar!", he shouts, celebrating a military victory. Videos like this have gone viral in Sudan –immersed in a brutal war for three years– and they accumulate hundreds of thousands of views. They show minors in military uniform, on the battlefield or shaking hands with soldiers and politicians.

Several international organizations had denounced the use of child soldiers by both sides of the conflict, the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces. Now an investigation by the outlet Bellingcat has discovered that these children have become "Disney stars" in the country: their popularity on social media has catapulted them into role models for young people their age.

"When I found out that the FSR (Rapid Support Forces) had captured Babanussa, I saw that some accounts I followed were sharing videos of what looked like a child in combat," the author of the investigation, Sebastian Vandermeersch, tells ARA. The journalist pulled the thread and discovered that this child "had a lot of followers and fans; his videos were shared everywhere." But he wasn't the only one. He soon realized it was a broader and new phenomenon.

Under the nickname "lion cubs" – a term used in Arabic to refer to child soldiers to highlight their bravery – extremely young children appear in dozens of videos that promote the glorification of conflict among young audiences. Different factions use them as a propaganda tool. "If adults see such young children willing to join the battle, it pressures them to do the same," highlights Vandermeersch.

The journalists from Bellingcat were able to verify that the images were authentic and place them in space and time thanks to satellite images. Thus, for example, they determined "with 100% confidence" that one of the minors was in the city of Babanussa at the time when the RSF rebels captured the city, apparently with the participation of child soldiers, in December 2025.

In some cases, children film themselves in combat. But there are also those in which they appear in orchestrated scenes alongside high-ranking commanders and political figures. This is the case of another underage user, with more than 700,000 followers. In one video, a group of uniformed and armed men hold the child as if he were a hero. In another, he appears in uniform and shaking hands with the Minister of Culture and Information, Khaled Al-Aiser. He declares: "Our era does not allow us to go to war [...]. But we want to go to the front, carry DShK and Goryunov machine guns, and drive a battle tank... We are small children, but with rage we are like a volcano: we erupt and kill all traitors and cowards".

The trivialization of violence goes so far that the audio of a child celebrating an FRS victory has been reused hundreds of times in other publications. Another viral video is presented as a competition in which users are asked which child soldier they like best.

The most forgotten war

The virality of child soldiers is just the tip of the iceberg of a culture of violence resulting from a war as brutal as it is forgotten. "The one in Sudan is the biggest humanitarian crisis on the planet," Francesco Lanino, deputy director of programs and operations for Save the Children in Sudan, tells this newspaper. From the Khartoum region, where he is displaced, he recalls that children are the most affected by the conflict: seventeen million need humanitarian assistance, five million are displaced, and eight million do not receive education.

Driven by hunger or desperation, many end up in the hands of military factions. "There is a huge number of unaccompanied children, especially in Al-Fashir and other front-line cities –he recounts– who can be easily recruited." Sometimes, he says, "some families 'sell' their older children in exchange for the rest of the family being able to eat." A practice that is completely illegal. It is forbidden to recruit minors under eighteen years of age to fight, and the use of children under fifteen years of age is considered a war crime according to the Rome Statute.

Sheldon Yett, UNICEF's representative in Sudan, agrees that "the recruitment and use of children by armed forces and groups is inadmissible" and constitutes "a grave violation of children's rights." "I have seen firsthand what this conflict is doing to children and families —he writes to ARA—. The conflict, displacement, and worsening poverty are stripping away all the protections children depend on, leaving them dangerously exposed to exploitation and abuse," he adds.

The psychological consequences of this exposure to violence are devastating. 50% of the country's children have lost a family member in the conflict, and the same percentage suffers from post-traumatic stress. For Lanino, the real danger is long-term. The soldiers who are now on the front lines were children who were not integrated into the school system during the last war and therefore did not receive support, he explains. "We have to help these children now –he says– because a generation of affected children could restart a conflict."

TikTok's inaction

Bellingcat denounced twelve accounts on TikTok from which this type of content was published with millions of views. But they did not delete any until the media outlet wrote to the platform announcing that it would publish the story, which then deleted seven. It wasn't until after the article was published that they closed all the accounts identified.

Vandermeersch criticizes the lack of permanent blocking mechanisms. "This child from RSF opened a new account and within a month he already had 20,000 followers again. It's a cat-and-mouse game," he laments. Furthermore, he explains how TikTok's algorithm seems to boost this type of violent content much more than Facebook's. "The risk is that, if other children see that joining armed groups gives them fame, recognition, and online glory at such a young age, they will feel encouraged to do the same," he concludes.