Viral Little one Troopers on TikTok: The ‘Disney Stars’ of Sudan’s Civil Conflict

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Little one troopers linked to Sudan’s warring factions have gained viral fame on TikTok, with their movies attracting tens of millions of views.

A Bellingcat investigation has discovered that the younger boys – broadly known as “lion cubs” – have change into celebrated figures of the rival teams which have been preventing for management of the nation since 2023.

Most of the movies we reviewed present the kids in army uniforms posing with fighters and senior officers from either side of the battle – the Speedy Assist Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). They’re seen celebrating battlefield victories, delivering motivational speeches, and making violent threats. In some footage the kids are armed.

Little one soldier consultants informed Bellingcat that the visibility and recognition of this content material, which portrays preventing as regular, celebrated and aspirational, may result in the recruitment of extra younger individuals within the battle.

Bellingcat flagged 12 TikTok accounts that had every posted viral content material of kid troopers by way of the platform’s inner reporting mechanism. After greater than 48 hours with out motion, we emailed TikTok to request remark, offering hyperlinks to the reported content material. This was completed to present TikTok an additional alternative to evaluate and take away the accounts, so as to minimise the danger of amplification by reporting on it. 

Following our inquiry, TikTok eliminated seven of the reported accounts. The remaining energetic accounts proceed to host greater than a dozen movies that includes youngster soldier content material, which, in response to TikTok’s personal tips, breaches its content material insurance policies.

Underneath the Paris Ideas, to which Sudan is a state get together, a toddler soldier is outlined as an individual underneath the age of 18 “who’s or who has been recruited or utilized by an armed power or armed group in any capability”, whether or not or not they’re straight concerned in hostilities. 

Bellingcat centered on two outstanding “lion cubs” from opposing sides of the civil struggle to disclose how this content material circulates throughout social media and positive aspects traction – totally on TikTok – regardless of platform guidelines that limit content material involving the exploitation and militarisation of youngsters.

In some instances, the kids movie themselves close to fight scenes, together with in a minimum of one occasion with the our bodies of lately deceased individuals. In others, they’re filmed in choreographed appearances with high-profile commanders and political figures. The youngsters are honoured as heroes by armed teams and their supporters, and their content material is re-shared throughout a whole lot of TikTok accounts, a few of which have tens of millions of followers.

Bellingcat will not be together with the names of the TikTok accounts or unblurred pictures of the kids featured within the content material as a consequence of their age. We additionally don’t hyperlink to any of the accounts or posts to keep away from amplification.

‘Individuals Say I Will Die’: RSF Little one Soldier

Bellingcat geolocated a number of TikTok movies exhibiting an RSF “lion cub” – who seems to be a younger teenager – celebrating the seize of the twenty second infantry division SAF base in Babanusa, a metropolis in West Kordofan, in early December 2025. 

The movies, posted by pro-RSF TikTok accounts and seen tens of millions of occasions, present the kid’s actions on the bottom within the aftermath of the takeover. Within the weeks that adopted, the kid’s TikTok account gained tens of hundreds of followers and up to date posts amassed a whole lot of hundreds of views. 

In a TikTok video posted to the kid’s account on Jan. 1, 2026, in response to social media feedback, the kid says: “I see individuals on the [social] media saying that I’ll die. The one who dies is as if he has paid his debt” This video obtained greater than 1,6 million views earlier than TikTok eliminated the account following Bellingcat’s inquiry.

The second TikTok video during which the kid is working had been seen greater than two million occasions earlier than it was eliminated. Its audio has since been reused in 200 extra movies on the platform, considerably amplifying its attain throughout pro-RSF networks. 

A shorter model of the identical audio appeared in additional than 70 extra movies. These included dozens of AI-generated clips, characterised by an animated type and visual inaccuracies in uniform badges and flags. Many of those TikToks depicted the kid alongside senior RSF figures, such because the group’s chief, referred to as Hemedti, and an officer referred to as Abu Lulu. On Feb. 19, 2026, Abu Lulu was positioned underneath sanctions by the US Treasury Division for his actions through the RSF’s takeover of Al Fashir, as analysed by Bellingcat.

The RSF “lion cub” seems in one other TikTok video posted the day of Babanusa’s takeover, alongside what look like captured SAF troopers whom he mocks as he leads chants praising the RSF. This put up obtained a whole lot of supportive feedback, a lot of which seem to come back from RSF fighters.

Footage posted on Dec. 5. exhibits the kid being celebrated by RSF fighters as he sits on the shoulder of RSF commander Salih Al-Foti. Two standard pro-RSF TikTok accounts, with a mixed 1,4 million followers, reposted the video with the caption: “Commander Colonel Salih Al-Foti honours the hero Al-Shibli [the lion cub]”. 

Within the video, Al-Foti praises the bravery of the “lion cub”, a time period the commander makes use of thrice as he describes  how the kid was on the battlefield through the first entry of the twenty second infantry division SAF base. “I see that the entire world is speaking about this lion cub,” Al-Foti says within the video. He additionally states that the RSF doesn’t recruit kids or ask people of such a younger age to combat, claiming as a substitute that minors generally seem amongst RSF forces with out prior information or approval, performing voluntarily and preventing alongside grownup fighters.

Al-Foti’s commanding function through the takeover of Babanusa is confirmed in an official RSF video during which he discusses the operation. Salih Al-Foti was beforehand named in a 2023 report by the UN Joint Human Rights Workplace in Sudan. The doc cites testimonies accusing RSF forces underneath his command of deliberately killing civilians in Nyala primarily based on tribal or ethnic affiliation. Following the RSF takeover of Babanusa, Al-Foti was promoted to the rank of Main Basic in response to social media stories. The RSF “lion cub” congratulated him in a TikTok video posted on Jan. 10, 2026.

In response to Bellingcat’s findings, El Basha Tebeig, a media consultant and advisor to RSF management, acknowledged that the Speedy Assist Forces maintains a devoted human rights unit inside its army construction and is dedicated to worldwide humanitarian legislation and the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the usage of kids in armed battle. He stated the RSF commander had issued standing orders prohibiting the participation of anybody underneath the age of 18 in army operations. 

Tebeig informed Bellingcat that the incident on the twenty second Division base in Babanusa, during which a younger youngster appeared in movies following the seize of the bottom, was unrelated to the RSF. When requested why the kid sat on the shoulders of RSF commander Salih Al-Foti, Tebeig responded: “The kid was current together with his father to have fun the liberation of the twenty second Division in Babanusa, and it’s fairly regular for youngsters and ladies to attend such celebrations to take part within the festive environment.” He additionally stated that allegations regarding the usage of youngster troopers shaped a part of efforts by hostile political actors to break the RSF’s fame, and reiterated that the RSF stays dedicated to not utilizing kids in armed battle.

‘Kill Each Traitor and Coward’: SAF Little one Soldier

Bellingcat additionally recognized the social media accounts of a viral SAF youngster soldier with greater than 700,000 TikTok followers. The account title consists of the time period Shibli (شبلي), that means “lion cub,” and its bio describes it because the “official account” of the kid, alongside a observe inviting promoting inquiries. This youngster seems to be youthful than the RSF “lion cub”.

In contrast to the RSF-linked youngster, the movies posted to this account present no exercise close to a frontline and look like fastidiously staged. The boy’s movies, which have amassed tens of millions of views, repeatedly function him within the SAF uniform (with SAF insignia on his beret, Sudanese flags and SAF camouflage) alongside armed troopers and senior army figures, typically in ceremonial or public settings.

In a single TikTok video seen practically 9 million occasions earlier than it was taken down, the kid recites a poem mocking RSF chief Hemedti. In one other video, which obtained 4 million views, he delivers a speech during which he affirms Sudan’s unity from a raised platform surrounded by troopers.

The “lion cub” additionally seems alongside senior figures within the Sudanese authorities. In a single TikTok video, seen greater than seven million occasions, he’s seen with Khaled Al-Aiser, Sudan’s info minister, declaring: “Our age doesn’t permit us to participate within the struggle or to be mobilised alongside the military. But we want to go to the entrance traces, carrying the DShK and the Goryunov machine weapons, and driving a battle tank … We’re young children, however in anger we’re like a volcano: we erupt and kill each traitor and coward.”

One other TikTok video exhibits him with Minni Minawi, the chief of the largest faction of the Sudanese Liberation Military and the present governor of Darfur, whom he praises in a poem. The kid additionally seems alongside Main Basic Abu Agla Keikel, a former RSF commander who defected to the SAF and now leads a power referred to as Sudan Defend, which has been accused of human rights violations, whereas reciting poetry in assist of the group.

The visibility of kid troopers on either side of the battle has change into some extent of comparability and competitors on-line. A number of TikTok accounts, together with a pro-RSF one with practically a million followers, have posted movies inviting customers to vote within the feedback on which of the 2 viral youngster troopers they assist.

Bellingcat reached out to the SAF for remark by way of a number of channels however had obtained no response by the point of publication.

Little one Troopers on Fb

The Fb pages of each the SAF and RSF-affiliated youngster troopers are much less energetic and standard, with every having about 7,000 followers. Nevertheless, in distinction to the kids’s personal TikTok accounts, the content material posted on the Fb pages of the kids themselves exhibits them carrying weapons. 

In a single video posted to the Fb web page of the SAF “lion cub”, he’s proven holding an assault rifle whereas reciting a poem threatening the RSF, saying that “slaughtering with a knife is ample, with out the necessity for bullets”. One other video, from April 2025, exhibits the kid standing beside a destroyed tank in Khartoum Worldwide Airport (15.60108, 32.54597), declaring town liberated. 

In the meantime, a Fb story posted to the web page of the RSF “lion cub” in December 2025 exhibits him posing with a light-weight machine gun and wrapped with ammunition belts.

Though Bellingcat discovered proof of kid soldier content material seen on different social media platforms, we centered on TikTok and Fb because of the larger degree of person engagement surrounding the person “lion cubs”.

How ‘Lion Cub’ Content material Encourages Recruitment

Specialists informed Bellingcat that movies exhibiting youngster troopers in battle helped to encourage recruitment, with armed teams utilizing visibility and reward to attract different younger individuals in.

Michael Wessells, professor of Medical Inhabitants and Household Well being at Columbia College, is a psychosocial and youngster safety practitioner who advises UN companies on youngster troopers and the psychological impacts of struggle on kids. He stated the general public celebration of the kids in these movies can straight encourage recruitment.

“What appears to be occurring is the recruitment of youngsters by honoring kids who’re keen to combat,” Wessells stated. “They’re given names corresponding to ‘lion cubs’ that honor their power and warrior nature, whereas bringing them into the fold at an early age.”

Wessells warned that on-line reward and virality can strengthen violent identities and normalise participation in armed battle, notably amongst adolescents looking for recognition, belonging, and objective. He stated the web presence of kid troopers had elevated their attain and affect as recruitment instruments. 

Mia Bloom, professor of Communication and Center East Research at Georgia State College, and a number one knowledgeable on the exploitation and recruitment of youngsters by armed teams, stated the general public elevation of kid troopers additionally turns them into highly effective function fashions, used to inspire each adults and youth to hitch armed teams.

“They’ve change into well-known, virtually equal to Disney youngster stars within the US, the place all people is aware of their title,” Bloom informed Bellingcat. “The message turns into: look how well-known he bought by doing that – perhaps if I be part of the motion, I can be well-known.”

Bloom warned that this sort of visibility can set off a well-documented copycat impact amongst younger audiences. When kids go viral for his or her affiliation with armed teams, she stated, it helps legitimise participation in violence and presents it as regular, celebrated, and aspirational.

On youth-oriented platforms corresponding to TikTok, the viral youngster troopers give armed teams what Bloom described as an “engaging face” for youthful audiences, signalling that participation can carry standing, recognition, and fame. On this approach, the elevation of kid troopers as on-line celebrities dangers encouraging different younger individuals to emulate them, reworking kids into highly effective recruitment symbols.

Dr Gina Vale, who has revealed analysis on the Islamic State’s recruitment and use of kid soldier “cubs” in propaganda, added that the outstanding depiction of armed kids at fight scenes makes for very efficient propaganda. Vale defined that the pictures of militarised kids are designed to be surprising and emotive, whereas conveying the facility and management of an armed group over future generations.

Youngsters More and more Drawn into Sudan’s Civil Conflict

Bellingcat’s findings come amid longstanding considerations concerning the recruitment of kid troopers in Sudan’s civil struggle. In 2023, the UN Particular Rapporteur on trafficking in individuals, Siobhán Mullally, warned that unaccompanied and impoverished kids had been being focused by the RSF, as worsening meals shortages, displacement, and the collapse of fundamental companies left them weak to recruitment, together with into fight roles. 

The UN Human Rights Council Reality-Discovering Mission for Sudan reported in October 2024 that the RSF had “systematically recruited and used kids in hostilities”, together with in fight roles and in actions corresponding to manning checkpoints and recording and disseminating abuses on social media.

With regard to the SAF, the Reality-Discovering Mission stated it had obtained credible stories of youngsters becoming a member of youth teams underneath the banner of “standard mobilization” following management calls to counter RSF advances. The mission reported that movies circulated on-line confirmed youth and youngsters underneath 18 being educated by SAF officers, and that kids had been noticed manning checkpoints in SAF-controlled areas. It stated additional investigation was required to find out whether or not kids had been formally recruited and utilized by the SAF.

In January 2026, Volker Türk, the UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights, stated he was: “deeply alarmed by the rising militarisation of society by all events to the battle, together with by way of the arming of civilians and recruitment and use of youngsters” following a five-day mission to Sudan. Witnesses interviewed by Reuters additionally described 23 incidents during which a minimum of 56 kids had been kidnapped by the RSF and allied militias in assaults courting again to 2023.

Social Media Platforms ‘Falling Brief’

TikTok’s Group Pointers say the platform is meant to “carry individuals collectively, not promote battle,” and that it doesn’t permit content material involving “threats, glorifying violence, or selling crimes that would hurt individuals”. TikTok’s Youth Security insurance policies additional states: “We don’t permit content material that would hurt younger individuals—bodily, emotionally, or developmentally.” 

Marwa Fatafta, a tech coverage knowledgeable at digital rights organisation Entry Now, informed Bellingcat that the content material recognized on this investigation violates a number of TikTok insurance policies. She identified that TikTok’s human rights commitments embody the Conference on the Rights of the Little one, which require states to take all possible measures to make sure safety and care of youngsters who’re affected by armed battle. 

Fatafta added that content material involving youngster troopers is prohibited underneath TikTok’s Human trafficking and Smuggling coverage. She famous that it could additionally violate platform guidelines on violence and legal habits, on condition that the usage of youngster troopers can represent a struggle crime underneath worldwide legislation.

Fb’s Human Exploitation coverage additionally prohibits content material that facilitates or exploits individuals by way of types of human trafficking, together with the recruitment of kid troopers. Nevertheless, Fatafta informed Bellingcat that Meta’s enforcement falls wanting its acknowledged commitments, saying: “Meta’s method to moderating content material coming from armed conflicts stays severely insufficient, ad-hoc and non-transparent.”

Sarah T. Roberts, Director of the Middle for Vital Web Inquiry at UCLA, stated that whereas corporations face intense scrutiny over youngster sexual exploitation materials, particularly from EU and US regulators, content material involving youngster troopers doesn’t carry the identical regulatory penalties and is subsequently extra prone to be deprioritised. 

“If they’ll’t see the worth, the tendency inside these corporations is to need to cut back the prices,” Professor Roberts stated. Roberts added that social media corporations are inclined to give attention to areas the place regulatory stress is strongest, saying: “Are they going to chop content material moderation round youngster sexual exploitation, or will they let issues go underneath the wire in components of the world that don’t frankly matter to them?”

Sheldon Yett, UNICEF consultant to Sudan, informed Bellingcat: “No matter if a toddler is portrayed in uniform or in any other case, the recruitment of anybody underneath 18 is a grave violation of kid rights. Social media platforms have an obligation to make sure efficient content material moderation to stop platforms from getting used to facilitate such exploitation. As this struggle grinds on into the third yr, kids in Sudan are notably weak, and social media platforms should do extra to maintain kids protected.”

Responses to Bellingcat’s Findings

Bellingcat reported 12 TikTok accounts, in addition to two viral audios that includes the RSF youngster soldier that had been utilized in greater than 270 extra movies, by way of TikTok’s inner reporting mechanism. The stories had been submitted underneath the class “Exploitation and abuse of individuals underneath 18,” which explicitly prohibits content material that exhibits or promotes the recruitment of kid troopers.

The reported content material included accounts of the kid troopers themselves, in addition to ten extra RSF- and SAF-aligned accounts with giant followings that had shared or amplified movies depicting the kids.

After greater than 48 hours had handed with out motion, Bellingcat contacted TikTok by electronic mail to request remark, offering direct hyperlinks to the accounts and audios that had been reported.

Following our inquiry, TikTok eliminated seven of the 12 accounts flagged, together with the pages of the kid troopers and each of the viral audios. Within the remaining 5 instances, TikTok eliminated solely the precise posts referenced in our correspondence, leaving the accounts energetic. On the time of publication, 4 of these accounts continued to host content material depicting the kid troopers recognized on this investigation. One video of the SAF “lion cub” has greater than 3,5 million views and a separate account continues to be internet hosting 9 movies of the RSF “lion cub” which have collectively been seen a whole lot of hundreds of occasions. 

In response to Bellingcat’s findings, a TikTok spokesperson stated: “We’ve eliminated content material and accounts that violated our strict guidelines towards facilitating and depicting human trafficking, together with youngster troopers. Of the content material we eliminated for breaking these Group Pointers, 98,2% was taken down earlier than it was reported to us.” 

Bellingcat additionally reported three Fb accounts by way of the interior reporting mechanisms, together with accounts belonging to the 2 recognized youngster troopers and an account belonging to an RSF fighter with greater than 10,000 followers that had posted a number of movies that includes the RSF “lion cub”. After greater than 48 hours had handed with out motion, Bellingcat contacted Meta on to request remark, sharing our findings and offering hyperlinks to the reported accounts, which had been subsequently eliminated.

In response, Meta stated it had eliminated the content material for violating its insurance policies, stating: “We don’t permit content material, exercise or interactions that recruit individuals for, facilitate or exploit individuals by way of the recruitment of kid troopers.” The corporate additionally pointed to a 2025 security messaging marketing campaign in Sudan geared toward elevating consciousness amongst younger customers concerning the dangers of kid soldier recruitment.

On the time of publication, one week after reaching out to TikTok and Fb, greater than a dozen posts that includes the “lion cubs” remained accessible throughout each platforms just by trying to find the boys’ names.

This investigation was carried out in shut cooperation with Radio Dabanga.

Merel Zoet, Galen Reich and Carlos Gonzales contributed to this report.

Riccardo Giannardi, a member of Bellingcat’s Volunteer Group, contributed analysis to this piece.

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