Syria’s children “hit rock bottom” in 2016, with more killed than in any other year of the civil war, the United Nations children’s organisation says. At least 652 children died – 255 of them in or near a school – last year, a 20% jump from the number killed during 2015, Unicef said. Th e fi gure includes only formally verifi ed deaths, meaning the number could be far higher this syria war 2016.
Unicef believes more than 850 children were recruited to fi ght in 2016. Th e number is double that of 2015, the report states. Th ose recruited increasingly found themselves on the frontline or, in extreme cases, used as executioners, suicide bombers or prison guards. “Th e depth of suff ering is unprecedented,” said Geert Cappelaere, Unicef regional director for the Middle East and North Africa speaking from Homs, Syria. “Millions of children in Syria come under attack on a daily basis, their lives turned upside down.” Six years ago this week, the fi rst protests against Bashar al-Assad’s rule began in Syria. Th e protests led to a violent crackdown and then civil war. On Monday, the UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the death toll from the confl ict had topped 320,000 syria war 2016.
Th e fi rst protests were held to demand the release of teenage students held, then tortured, for writing anti-government graffi ti. Since then, the toll on children has only increased, aid agencies say Mr Cappelaere added: “Each and every child is scarred for life with horrifi c consequences on their health, well-being, and future.” Last week, Save the Children warned millions of Syrian children could be living in a state of “toxic stress”, which the charity feared may become irreversible without immediate help. It also found two-thirds of children had either lost a loved one, had their house bombed or shelled, or been injured as a result of the war.
