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It's
not only the slaughter in Gaza that leaves many children dead or
disabled.
In Iraq, almost two months after the outbreak of
violence between Jihadists and Iraqi government forces, civilian
casualties soared. In June alone, 1,500 people were killed, the
highest monthly rate since 2008.
According
to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), in all
areas affected by conflicts, children are victims of war because of
indiscriminate or systematic attack by armed groups and the
government, as the bombardment of residential areas has increased
dramatically. Activists have also referred to children-victims who
were killed or wounded during the government air strikes against the
militants of Islamic State in Iraq and Levante (ISIS).
Iraq
has now become one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a
child. UNAMI said it has also documented “systematic and egregious
violations” by the Islamic State against children, including sexual
violence and rape, killing and physical violence, forced recruitment.
The
newly reported violence and casualties are the continuation of
children’s suffering in Iraq in the past decade. More than 7,800
civilians were killed last year, the highest since the U.N. started a
systematic count of civilian casualties in the country in 2008,
according to a UN report. Among these casualties, 248 were children,
which were caused by the Islamic State and Al-Qaida in Iraq, the UN
said. According to the Iraqi government, the number could be even
higher, with 335 children killed and 1,300 injured.
There
have been reports of children who have been recruited by the
insurgents and armed groups being killed or injured in fighting.
There
are no official statistics on the number of children recruited as
soldiers, but UNAMI said it has received reports of children being
recruited by all sides of the conflict, including by
government-affiliated forces. They have been used as informants, in
some cases as suicide bombers, for manning checkpoints and for
fighting, it said.
Sources:
We
should never forget who brought this mess in Iraq and the Middle
East. We should not forget the war crimes by the Western hypocrites
in Iraq, Yugoslavia and elsewhere, against children and civilians.
There will be no trial for them, of course.
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