1,075 Iraqi Children Killed Since 2014, 5 Million Need Urgent Aid: UNICEF



ERBIL —
 After three years into the violence in Iraq, children are still trapped in an endless cycle of violence and increasing poverty, according to a UNICEF assessment entitled ‘Nowhere to Go’ released on Thursday.

“Across Iraq, children continue to witness sheer horror and unimaginable violence,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Iraq, adding that “They have been killed, injured, abducted and forced to shoot and kill in one of the most brutal wars in recent history.”


In the war-torn areas in west Mosul, “children are being deliberately targeted and killed” by the Islamic State (IS) militants to stop families from fleeing the violence, said UNICEF, noting that in less than two months, at least 23 children have been killed and 123 have been injured in west Mosul alone.


Since 2014, 1,075 children have been killed and 1,130 others have been maimed and injured, show the organisation’s statistics according to which 152 were killed and 255 were injured during the first six months of 2017


The organisation also stated that over 4,650 children have become separated or unaccompanied by their families.”


“There have been 138 attacks on schools and 58 attacks on hospitals, and over 3 million children don’t attend school on a regular basis while 1.2 million children are out of school,” according to the UNICEF’s report.


One in every four children comes from a poor household, and more than 5 million children are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, the report added.


UNICEF called for an immediate end to the conflict and all grave violations against children.
The organization appealed US$100m for lifesaving emergency operations in Iraq and for support to the children returning to their homes and resuming their lives.


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