83 Nigerian kids used as 'human bombs' since January 2017: UNICEF

Ankara: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said at least 83 children have been deployed as "human bombs" by Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the country's northeast region between the month of January and August.

"At least 83 children have been deployed as "human bombs" by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria's northeastern region between January and August, a figure four times higher than it was for all of 2016," the UNICEF said in a statement on Tuesday.

The UNICEF said 55 of the victims were girls, most often under 15 years old; 27 were boys, and one was a baby strapped to a girl. The sex of the baby used in the explosion was impossible to determine.

"The use of children in such attacks has had a further impact of creating suspicion and fear of children who have been released, rescued or escaped from Boko Haram. As a result, many children who have managed to get away from captivity face rejection when they try to reintegrate into their communities, compounding their suffering," the statement said.a

All of this is taking place in the context of a massive displacement and malnutrition crisis - a combination that is also deadly for children. There are 1.7 million people displaced by the insurgency in the northeast, 85 per cent of them in Borno State, where most of these attacks take place.

Northeast Nigeria is one of four countries and regions facing the spectre of famine, with up to 450,000 children at risk of severe acute malnutrition this year.

UNICEF said the trend worsened the sufferings of children in the insurgency now in its eighth year, adding that the children so used as " human bombs" were victims and not perpetrators of the crime.

On August 15, at least 30 people were killed and more than 80 others injured when three female suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts in the town of Mandarari, in Nigeria's Borno State, a stronghold of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

The triple suicide attackers struck in a local market and outside a nearby camp for people displaced by Boko Haram violence. (ANI)