Children are at more risk than ever in Syria's devastating conflict, the UN said Monday (March 12th) as the war approached its eighth year, AFP reported.
The UN children's agency UNICEF reported a 50% increase in the number of children killed in the conflict last year compared to the previous year.
"In 2017, extreme and indiscriminate violence killed the highest ever number of children -- 50% more than 2016," it said, adding that 2018 was off to an even worse start.
More than 200 children have been killed in the Syrian regime’s bombardment of Eastern Ghouta since February, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Observatory says children account for around a fifth of all civilian victims of the assault.
According to the UN agency, an estimated 3.3 million children are exposed to explosive hazards across the country. Dozens of schools were hit in 2017 alone.
