DHAKA: South Sudanese rebels on Tuesday released 280 child soldiers, the first batch of some 3,000 to be freed but with thousands more still fighting.

The UN children's agency said, reports The Straits Times.

Some 12,000 children, mainly boys, have been forcibly recruited by armed groups across the country in the past year alone to fight, according to Unicef.

Those freed included some as young as 11, who had been fighting for up to four years and have never attended school.

‘The first group of 280 children were released today, at the village of Gumuruk in Jonglei state’ in the east of the country, Unicef said in a statement, calling it ‘one of the largest ever demobilisations of children’.

BDST: 1537 HRS, JAN 27, 2015