The thing about colonial forces is that they often lack bravery. Knowing they are hated, they constantly have to watch their backs. British soldiers serving in Northern Ireland have admitted that they used to feel safer patrolling near children as they thought there’d be less chance of being shot at. This despicable tactic – using kids as human shields – was also in evidence in apartheid South Africa and has been used by the IDF in Israel.
It’s worth remembering that, under international humanitarian law, the use of children on a battlefield and the use of human shields are strictly prohibited through treaty and custom – and are defined as war crimes by the International Criminal Court.