Many of the group's adult fighters joined when they were minors. that 21 The guerrillas said separately Farc members under the age of 15 had already been released. The Farc announced in February 2015 that had stopped ac the age of 17, and a year later said it had banned all recruits under the age of 18 In a statement, the Farc said it did not onlist those younger than 15. However, when the war intensified, many arrived whose fathers had been killed by paramilitary violence or simply had fled mistreatment and had no futures the state ment said"In these cases, we gave them refuge and protection that orphanhood and poverty denied them Government figures show authorities have taken some 6,000 children from illegal armed groups over the past 17 years, more than half of them coming from the Farc Present at the announcement was Algerian-born Leila zerrougui, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spe cial representative for Children and Armed Conflict.