ICC Note
Boko haram has started to use children in increasing numbers as suicide bombers. According to a report completed by UNICEF, the terrorist organization used 19 children in all of 2016 in their suicide bomb attacks. Already in 2017, they have used 83 young children as their tools. Over two thirds of them have been girls. This rise is a very disturbing and inhumane trend. The U.N. estimates that Boko Haram is responsible for over 1.7 million displaced persons and 20,000 deaths since 2009.
2017-08-22 Nigeria (WashingtonPost) UNICEF is reporting a four-fold increase in use of children as “human bombs” by the radical Boko Haram group in northeastern Nigeria already this year compared to all of 2016.
UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado says she has no explanation for the increase to 83 such “human bomb” children, two-thirds of them girls, compared to 19 total children last year.
She said Boko Haram does not always claim responsibility for such attacks typically against civilian targets, but no other groups are known to use the tactic.
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