[ZenGum]

One of the problems is with the word "children".

two year olds? or fourteen year olds? When does "military age" begin?

There were a couple of Afghan kids at my high school, refugees who had been smuggled out after the Russians put a bounty on their heads, because they had been blowing up tanks.
They'd approach with a tray of cigarettes to sell, offer other drugs, and as the transaction took place, one would lob a grenade in the tank, and they'd both run.
Well, that's the story, how much of that is accurate I can't say.

But "military age" starts young in Afghanistan. They would have been 12 or 13 or so.

I think soldiers have to assess all people - men, women, children - as potential threats, but also as potential innocent civilians, and act accordingly, as best they can.