The system is corrupt, and the Americans are part of it." Then he rushes to the taxi stands amid the noise of donkey carts, creaky old Toyotas, and Afghan military vehicles filled with gunmen. Abdul Rafi's voice emerges from his scrawny body as a croak. It is enough to support his entire family - his disabled father, mother, three brothers and five sisters. Abdul Rafi's voice emerges from his scrawny body as a croak. Dough is flung against its curved walls to bake into the flat loaves known as khasa and the round loaves called kamachi. Families scramble for any job to survive. Abdul Rafi's voice emerges from his scrawny body as a croak. A U.S. Labor Department report last year says children are hurt or killed in construction jobs, and forced to work in extreme cold or heat, carry heavy loads, smuggle illegal drugs or serve as soldiers. But the laws are widely ignored because of resistance from employers and from families who need the income, said Sami Hashemi, a child-protection expert for UNICEF in Afghanistan. Mohammed blames Western aid groups for not doing more to find alternatives for poor families and their children. At 13, he is a tiny figure among the vegetable sellers and butchers slicing up sheep carcasses hung from hooks. The sweet smell of fresh bread wafts through the cramped storefront. The best estimate is nearly 2 million between the ages of 6 and 17, or at least 25 percent of Afghan children, Hashemi said. The numbers are rising as growth in mining and construction, paid for by international dollars, has lured more underage workers.