Boko Haram Using Children as Suicide Bombers

The United Nations says the terror group Boko Haram is increasingly using children as suicide bombers.

In northeastern Nigeria, 27 suicide bombers have already carried out attacks this year, compared to 26 attacks for all of 2014.

UNICEF reports that Boko Haram abducts women and children weekly. It estimates that 743,000 children have been uprooted by the nearly 6-year-old Islamic uprising.

UNICEF says women and children carry out three-quarters of all reported Boko Haram suicide bombings.

“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,” Jean Gough, UNICEF representative in Nigeria, said.

The U.N. report comes in the wake of weekend attacks by Boko Haram. On Sunday, 37 people in Borno state lost their lives. Boko Haram also razed 400 buildings, including mosques, and torched vehicles and motorcycles.