In this Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012 photo, 13-year-old fighter Abdullahi, right, holds an AK-47 as his Islamist commanders look on, in Douentza, Mali.  Islamists in northern Mali have recruited and paid for as many as 1,000 children from rural towns and villages devastated by poverty and hunger. The Associated Press spoke with four children and conducted several dozen interviews with residents and human rights officials. The interviews provide evidence that a new generation in what was long a moderate and stable Muslim nation is becoming radicalized, as the Islamists gather forces to fight a potential military intervention backed by the United Nations. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed)
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