Children have been forcibly recruited into armed groups in rebel-held areas of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN children`s fund said Tuesday.

UNICEF spokeswoman Veronique Taveau told journalists the organisation had received reports that 37 children had been forcibly recruited into Mai Mai militia in camps near Rutshuru, Nord-Kivu, north of the regional capital Goma.

The Mai Mai are community-based militia headed by warlords and tribal elders to protect their territory from Rwandan intruders.

Children are extremely vulnerable to forced recruitment in the conflict-riven Nord-Kivu province.

Rights group Amnesty International said in September that freed child soldiers were being re-recruited for their valuable fighting experience as the conflict between rebel and government forces intensified.

As many as half of the former child soldiers reunited with their families in Nord-Kivu through a national demobilisation programme have since been re-recruited, Amnesty said.

`It is precisely their previous experience with armed groups that makes them valuable recruits and puts these children at greater risk,` said Andrew Philip, Amnesty`s DR Congo expert.

`The more they know, the more they are at risk of re-recruitment. In this case, experience can be deadly.`