UN says Iraqi children ‘relentlessly targeted’ in war

BAGHDAD — The U.N. children’s fund warned on Thursday that 3.6 million Iraqi children are at “serious risk” of death, injury, sexual violence, abduction and recruitment into armed groups, and has called on warring parties in Iraq to protect their rights.

In a report titled “A Heavy Price for Children,” UNICEF said the number of children in Iraq at serious risk of death or wartime exploitation had increased by 1.3 million in the past 18 months.

The report said the 2014 Islamic State group invasion of large areas of Iraq’s north and west and the military operation to unseat them have had a “catastrophic impact,” with about 4.7 million Iraqi children in need of humanitarian assistance.

UNICEF called for an urgent action to protect children’s rights in war-torn Iraq.