Children in War Zones: 14 Photos of Innocents Lost

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Walking home through a battlefield

A Palestinian schoolgirl walks past Israeli border police officers on her way home from school during clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian stone-throwers in the Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem.

As adults are called on to fight and solve their nations’ problems, children in war zones might not understand what’s happening around them and develop with a warped sense of normalcy. The British Journal of Psychiatry found that preschoolers exposed to violence on the Gaza Strip had increased “risk of behavioral and emotional problems.”

Click through the gallery to learn about different conflicts and learn how you can take action to help traumatized children in war zones.

Photo: Ammar Awad/Reuters

Baby’s First Rocket Attack

A baby is seen at a broken window after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza hit a house in the southern town of Netivot on November 12, 2012. The rocket struck the house, but caused no damage or injuries. Israeli officials quickly warned of a tough response to the latest surge in violence from the Gaza Strip, and followed up that warning with a steady barrage of missiles fired from air and sea. Egyptian officials raised hopes of a truce between Israel and Hamas militants, but the world is on alert that a major conflagration may erupt in the region before 2012 is over.

Photo: Amir Cohen/Reuters

No Room of His Own

A boy sits at his parents’ house, damaged by shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, in Talbiseh, near Homs on August 31, 2012. By the summer of 2012, President Assad had unleashed the full power of his military onto his people to maintain his power.

Photo: Shaam News Network/Reuters

Childhood Discoveries

A Bosnian Muslim boy cries near coffins prepared for a mass burial at the Memorial Center in Potocari, near Srebrenica on July 9, 2012. The bodies of 520 recently identified victims of the Srebrenica massacre were buried on July 11, 2012, the anniversary of a massacre by Bosnian Serb forces. Commanded by Ratko Mladic, the Serbian troops slaughtered 8,000 Muslim men and boys and buried them in mass graves. The murders were Europe’s worst massacre since World War II.

Photo: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

A chance to stand again

A disabled Afghan girl exercises with her prosthetic legs at the Orthopedic Center of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kabul on April 11, 2012. The free-of-charge center logs some 6,000 new patients every year, all of them Afghans. Of those, 1,000 are direct victims of war, many grievously wounded by the heightened potency of bombs.

Photo: Omar Sobhani/Reuters

A Memory of Home

Ali Hicaz, 10, a Syrian refugee, shows a drawing of his dream home during a class at a school for refugee children at Boynuyogun refugee camp in Hatay province near the Turkish-Syrian border on April 11, 2012.

Photo: Umit Bektas/Reuters

In Awe of Bullets

Somali children look at a Transitional Federal Government (TFG) soldier carrying a belt of machine gun ammunition during patrol along the Indian Ocean coastline in Burgabo, south of Kismayu in Somalia on December 14, 2011.

Photo: Noor Khamis/Reuters

Surviving the School Bus

A tear runs down a boy’s face as he lies on a bench after being treated for his injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar on September 13, 2011. Gunmen opened fire on a school bus in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least three children and the driver, a police official said. Fifteen children were wounded. The children on the bus were around nine years old.

Photo: Fayaz Aziz/Reuters

The Losses of Victory

June 19, 2011: A boy flashes a victory sign in the west Libyan city of Misrata as he mourns during the funeral of a relative, a Libyan rebel fighter, killed during clashes with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. In the time since the Gaddafi forces were routed, new leadership has failed to completely take hold in Libya.

Photo: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

A Child’s Call to Arms

A boy holds a bullet while attending a rally near the courthouse in Benghazi, Libya, on May 14, 2011. Protesters were calling on the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi. Gaddafi was later killed on the field of combat.

Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Praying for Less War

A girl attends Friday prayers in front of an army tank in Tahrir Square in Cairo on February 18, 2011. Egyptians held a nationwide “Victory March” to celebrate the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule, to protect the revolution and to remind new military rulers of the power of the street. Hundreds of thousands joined the rallies, which are also a memorial to the 365 people who died in the 18-day uprising, with many Egyptians expressing their intention to guard their newly-won prospect of democracy.

Photo: Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Just Outside My Door

Palestinian children look at a militant of the Democratic front for the liberation of Palestine (DFLP) during an anti-Israel military show in the central Gaza Strip on February 22, 2010.

Photo: Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Hide and Seek With a Foreign Gunman

An Afghan boy greets a U.S. Army soldier from Alpha Company, 1-22 Infantry Battalion who is on position to provide security to a joint U.S.-Afghan military checkpoint along a road in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan on October 10, 2010.

Photo: Erik de Castro/Reuters

Daddy Was Lost Worlds Away

Victoria Chant weeps as the coffin of her father, British soldier Darren Chant, is carried out of the Guard’s Chapel following his funeral in London on December 1, 2009. Warrant Officer Chant, Regimental Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was killed on duty in Afghanistan on November 3, 2009.

Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters

If you feel war has ruined too many childhoods already, say so in COMMENTS.

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Andrew Freeman is a California native with a degree in history from UCLA. He’s covered a wide range of topics for TakePart, but is particularly interested in politics and policy. Email Andrew |@natureofdabeast | TakePart.com

Children in War Zones: 14 Photos of Innocents Lost

Walking home through a battlefield

Photo: Ammar Awad/Reuters

Baby’s First Rocket Attack

Photo: Amir Cohen/Reuters

No Room of His Own

Photo: Shaam News Network/Reuters

Childhood Discoveries

Photo: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

A chance to stand again

Photo: Omar Sobhani/Reuters

A Memory of Home

Photo: Umit Bektas/Reuters

In Awe of Bullets

Photo: Noor Khamis/Reuters

Surviving the School Bus

Photo: Fayaz Aziz/Reuters

The Losses of Victory

Photo: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

A Child’s Call to Arms

Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Praying for Less War

Photo: Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Just Outside My Door

Photo: Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Hide and Seek With a Foreign Gunman

Photo: Erik de Castro/Reuters

Daddy Was Lost Worlds Away

Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters

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