Children continued to be killed in J&K, LWE-affected areas in security operations: UN Report

July 31, 2019

New Delhi: The killings of children in security forces’ operation against armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir and Maoists affected areas of India and their recruitment by these groups continued, says a United Nations Report on the suffering of children in armed conflict for 2018 released on Tuesday.

The Report, by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. also took note of Kathua rape incident.”Allegations of the perpetration of sexual violence against girls by the security forces in Kashmir were reported. For instance, an 8-year-old girl was reportedly abducted, drugged, raped for three days and murdered in Kathua district by special police officers.” it said.

In Jammu and Kashmir, 31 children between the ages of 7 and 17 were allegedly killed, including during Government armed forces operations.

Moreover, at least 150 children, some as young as 1, were reportedly injured, mostly by pellet bullets
used by the security forces, the report said.

As many as eight children were reportedly killed during an attack on Naxalites in the district of Garhchiroli, Maharashtra, where the C-60 district-level special forces claimed to have killed at least 40 Naxalites, the report said.

The UN said it had also received reports of child recruitment and use in Jammu and Kashmir. Five children, some as young as 14, were reportedly recruited by militant groups, including by Hizbul Mujahideen (two) and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (one).

The two other children joined Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and were reportedly killed in an encounter with the government forces on 9 December. In addition, reports of the systematic recruitment of children by Naxalites continued to be received, the report said.

The report noted that globally “more than 24,000 grave violations against children were verified by the UN in 20 country situations”.

“While the number of violations attributed to non-State actors remained steady, there was an alarming increase in the number of violations attributed to state actors and to international forces compared with 2017,” it added.

According to the report, Afghanistan was the worst place for children. Last year, there were 3,062 child casualties there and children accounted for 28 per cent of all civilian casualties, it said.

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