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Amman: Insurgent groups and militias in Iraq are recruiting children in the war-torn country as suicide bombers, the United Nations saidon Friday, echoing concerns expressed by the US military.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN special representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, said her recent five-day trip to Iraq convinced her that the country's children are "the silent victims of the ongoing violence".
"Since 2004, an increasing number of children have been recruited into various militias and insurgent groups, including as suicide bombers," said Coomaraswamy in a statement released on Friday after she returned to Amman. She did not reveal the source of her information.
The US military released several videos at the beginning of February seized from suspected Al Qaida hideouts in Iraq that showed militants training children, who appeared as young as ten, to kidnap and kill. The US military said at the time that Al Qaida in Iraq teaches teenage boys how to build car bombs and sends them on suicide missions.
Last March, police said children were used in a car bombing in which the driver gained permission to park in a busy shopping area after pointing out that he was leaving his kids in the back seat. The children were killed along with three Iraqi bystanders.
Coomaraswamy urged "religious and community leaders of Iraq to send one clear message to Iraqi children: Stay out of the violence and go back to school." She said only 50 per cent of primary school-age children were attending class, down from 80 per cent in 2005.
Approximately 1,500 children are known to be held in detention facilities.
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