UN: Violations against children in conflict rose in 2015

In this Monday, March 28, 2016 photo, Faisal Ahmed, whose son, Udai, died of severe acute malnutrition, poses for a photo with one of his children at his house in Hazyaz village, on the southern outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen. Hunger has been the most horrific consequence of Yemen’s conflict and has spiraled since Saudi Arabia and its allies, backed by the US, launched a campaign of airstrikes and a naval blockade a year ago. The ripple effects from war have tipped a country that could already barely feed itself over the edge. AP FILE PHOTO

UNITED NATIONS — A new United Nations report says the scale of grave violations committed against children caught in conflict intensified in 2015 especially in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia and South Sudan.

The annual report on children and armed conflict released Thursday said the UN recorded the highest number of child casualties in Afghanistan in 2015 since it began documenting civilian deaths and injuries in 2009.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in the report that thousands of children are among the more than 250,000 people killed in Syria, and in Yemen the UN verified a five-fold increase of children recruited by the warring parties in 2015 compared with 2014.

In Somalia, the UN said there was a 50 percent increase in violations against youngsters.

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