3.6 mln Iraqi children at risk of increasing violence: UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Thursday that 3.6 million Iraqi children need urgent action to protect their rights amid increasing violence in the country.

The UNICEF report titled "A Heavy Price for Children" revealed one child in five in the country is at serious risk of death, injury, sexual violence, abduction and recruitment into armed groups.

The number of children in danger of these violations has increased by 1.3 million in 18 months, the report said.

The report finding also showed that 4.7 million children need humanitarian aid, or a third of all Iraqi children, while many families are facing deteriorated conditions due to the ongoing violence and military operations in Fallujah and the areas around Mosul in northern Iraq.

It showed that almost 1.5 million children, or 10 percent of the Iraqi children, have been forces to flee their homes because of violence since the beginning of 2014. Most of them were displaced multiple times.

Consequently, nearly one in five schools is out of use due to conflict and almost 3.5 million children of school-age are missing out on an education, according to the report.

Peter Hawkins, UNICEF representative in Iraq said "children in Iraq are in the firing line and are being repeatedly and relentlessly targeted."

"We appeal to all parties for restraint and to respect and protect children. We must help give children the support they need to recover from the horrors of war and contribute to a more peaceful and prosperous Iraq," the report quoted Hawkins as saying.

The report also said that a total of 1,496 children have been kidnapped in the country over the past two and a half years, or about 50 children abducted each month, with many forced into fighting or sexually abused.

"The kidnapping of children from their homes, their schools and from the streets is horrifying," said Hawkins. "These children are being ripped from their families and are subjected to sickening abuses and exploitation."

The UNICEF called for an urgent action to protect children's rights in the war-torn Iraq. It also appealed for humanitarian access to all children across Iraq, including in area under control of Islamic state (IS) militants, in order to improve education and to provide psychological and recreation programs.

The UNICEF also called for the international community to increase funding its activities, as resources are running short. It said it is seeking 100 million U.S. dollars for its response in Iraq for 2016.

Iraq has witnessed intense violence since the IS took control of parts of its northern and western regions in June 2014.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups such as the IS group on the United States, which invaded Iraq in March 2003 under the pretext of seeking to destroy weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the country.

The war led to the ouster and eventual execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, but no WMD was found. Endit