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The details...

The Gunslinger Girl anime is an adaptation of the manga of the same name by Yu Aida.  The 13 episode TV series aired 2003-2004.

There is also a 13 episode sequel entitled Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- which aired in 2008, and a 2 episode -Il Teatrino- OVA.  The Il Teatrino series was animated by a different studio and featured a very different animation style and lower budget animation (there's nothing for Il Teatrino on this site).

The story...

The "social welfare agency" puts on a front of helping children with nothing left, such as "Henrietta" who barely survived a massacre that left her whole family dead.  In reality, the agency is an Italian government anti-terrorism agency; the girls are cybernetically enhanced, brainwashed, and used as assassins for the government's dirty work.  While the cybernetic enhancements and brainwashing make them effective and efficient killing machines, they are still just children.