Some 3.6 million Iraqi children in firing line, "relentlessly targeted": UN reports

The United Nations reported on Thursday that some 3.6 million Iraqi children are "at serious risk" of death, injury, sexual violence, abduction and recruitment into armed groups, an increase of 1.3 million in 18 months.

One out of every five Iraqi children are in the danger, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a report entitled "A Heavy Price for Children: Violence destroys childhoods in Iraq."

The report also said that 4.7 million, or one-third of Iraqi children, are in need of humanitarian aid, as military operations in Fallujah and around Mosul cause deteriorating living conditions.

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

The UN official appealed to all parties for restraint and to respect and protect children, saying that "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 said that 1,496 children have been abducted in Iraq over the past two and a half years. That translates to 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."

According to the report, almost 10 percent of Iraqi children -- more than 1.5 million -- have been forced to flee their homes because of violence since the beginning of 2014, often multiple times.

Among the concerns, which also include a lack of adequate health care and poor public service, is a lack of education. The conflict has rendered nearly one in five unusable, preventing almost 3.5 million school-age children from learning, UNICEF said.

Among the steps that need to be taken immediately include ending the killing, maiming, abduction, torture, detention, sexual violence and recruitment of children, and providing unhindered and unconditional humanitarian access to all children in the country, said the report.

Additional steps include expanding and improving education for out-of-school children through catch-up classes; providing psychological and recreation programmes to help children heal and to reconnect with their childhoods; and increasing funding for life-saving support for children, UNICEF said. Endit