AFGHAN CHILD SOLDIER HOLDS RIFLE IN KABUL, 2001-12-04 (photo)

Abdul Rahim, a 14 year old Northern Alliance soldier, stands guard with his comrades in a base of the First Strike Unit in Kabul suburbs December 4, 2001. The Taliban killed Abdul Rahim's father, so he joined the ranks of the Northern Alliance and carries his Kalashnikov assault rifle with pride. A third of the 450 men of Abdul Rahim's unit are younger than 18, based inside the tumbledown barracks that their unit inherited when they marched into Kabul on November 13, shortly after the Taliban fled from U.S. airstrikes. The U.N. estimates that there are 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj REUTERS DS/FMS