The UN children’s fund, Unicef has said in its latest report on conflict zones in the world that attacks on children in conflict zones including those in Africa has reached ‘shocking’ levels in 2017.
The Unicef report revealed that in the Central African Republic, children were killed, raped, abducted and recruited by armed groups in a dramatic increase in violence.
In Nigeria Islamist militants Boko Haram forced at least 135 children in north-east Nigeria and Cameroon to act as suicide bombers, almost five times the number in 2016.
In South Sudan, the report said more than 19,000 children were recruited into armed forces and armed groups.
Yemen, Ukraine and Myanmar were also mentioned in the report as areas where shocking attacks took place against children.
Unicef director Manuel Fontaine said in the report that children have been targeted in their homes, schools and playgrounds saying such brutality “cannot be the new normal.”
The report highlights several conflict zones indicating that in some places, children abducted by extremist groups suffer further abuse when they are released to security forces.
“Unicef calls on all parties to conflict to abide by their obligations under international law to immediately end violations against children and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals,” the reports said.
Source: Africafeeds.com
