Wednesday, February 16, 2011

One child each day killed in Afghan war

One child a day is being killed in the Afghan war as both the Taliban and government forces recruit and exploit them according to a United Nations report. 

Militants are employing children as suicide bombers or to plant explosives, while killing scores through the indiscriminate use of roadside booby traps and bomb attacks.
The Afghan police have also recruited boys as young as 12 into their fight against insurgents, according to a report which underlines the grim toll of the war on children.
Fighting in the first half of 2010 killed at least 176 children and wounded 389, in an increase of more than half from the previous year.
The real number is likely far higher, but difficult to measure because so much fighting takes place in areas made impenetrable by rebels.
The report by Ban Ki-moon, UN general secretary, said there were "grave violations and abuses committed against children" and called on all sides to do more to protect them.

 

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