Armed groups fighting in the north-eastern Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo all recruit child soldiers and in some cases children form the bulk of their troops, aid workers say. More than half the estimated 15,000 fighters who make up the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) are under 18, some are as young as eight, they say. But the UPC, which controls the area of Ituri on the border with Uganda, says the children in its ranks are orphans who are used for light manual labour. Aid workers said that all the other rebel groups, including the one affiliated to the Kinshasa government, and various ethnic militias in Ituri, also use child soldiers. Full Story