UNITED NATIONS — Afghanistan’s security forces and insurgent groups are both recruiting children to serve as fighters and the Taliban also is using young people as suicide bombers, U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-Moon said Monday.
He urged all factions to immediately stop exploiting children.
In his first report to the Security Council on the Afghan war’s impact on children, Ban said other problems include sexual abuse of children, especially boys, and a “worrisome increase” in the number of child victims caused by militant attacks on civilian targets.
He cited an “ever increasing number of children inadvertently killed during engagements by international and Afghan forces.” He urged U.S., NATO and Afghan troops to implement rules of engagement that include special measures protecting children.
