From Herald Wire Services

BOGOTA - A prominent human rights group estimated Thursday that 11,000 children are fighting in this nation's civil war, serving as messengers, foot soldiers and even executioners for leftist rebel bands and right-wing paramilitaries. The figure represents one of the highest numbers of child combatants in any current conflict and marks a dramatic increase since the late 1990s.

A study by New York-based Human Rights Watch said armed groups are recruiting children as young as 12 and 13, who often join up to escape domestic violence or even hunger and then are expected to participate in atrocities. Deserters, if caught, are often killed.

The group's regional director, José Miguel Vivanco, said the number of underage combatants in Colombia has doubled since five or six years ago, and that about 80 percent are members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and the National Liberation Army. The rebels' paramilitary foes accounted for the other 20 percent.

Human Rights Watch used statistics gathered by Colombia's human rights ombudsman and personal accounts.

''Some told us they had seen mutilations of prisoners with machetes and chain saws,'' Vivanco said. Girls faced an additional risk of sexual manipulation, he added.