Ten-fold increase of child suicide attacks in Boko Haram-affected countries: UNICEF

Some 44 children were involved in "suicide" attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger in 2015, up from 4 two years ago, the UN's Children Fund (UNICEF) reported Tuesday.

Representing a ten-fold year-on-year increase, these figures are all the more alarming as estimations reveal that over 75 percent of those children involved in attacks were girls.

"Let us be clear: these children are victims, not perpetrators," said UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa Manuel Fontaine in a statement.

"Deceiving children and forcing them to carry out deadly acts has been one of the most horrific aspects of the violence in Nigeria and in neighbouring countries," he added.

UNICEF said that the tactical use of child bombers has devastating consequences, especially for girls who have survived captivity and sexual violence by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria.

As "suicide" attacks involving children become commonplace, some communities are starting to see children as threats to their safety, Fontaine explained.

"This suspicion towards children can have destructive consequences; how can a community rebuild itself when it is casting out its own sisters, daughters and mothers?" he added. Endit