The United Nations said Tuesday that Boko Haram is responsible for an “alarming spike” of suicide bombings in Nigeria that have been carried about by women and children.
Girls between the ages of 7 and 17 years have been used for three-quarters of all such attacks in the region since 2014, the U.N. children’s agency reported. There have been 27 suicide bombings in the region over five months, compared to 26 in all of 2014.
“Children are not instigating these suicide attacks; they are used intentionally by adults in the most horrific way. They are first and foremost victims — not perpetrators,” said Jean Gough, UNICEF representative in Nigeria.
UNICEF estimates that 743,000 have been displaced over the past six years because of Boko Haram’s campaign of terror.
“Whole communities have fled their villages and endured unimaginable suffering. Traumatized people, without homes, belongings, income and education for their children,” Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said last week, The Associated Press reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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