Since the beginning of the year, 189 children have been killed and another 301 injured in conflict-affected Iraq, the UN said this week.
Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Iraq representative, and Jan Kubis, UN special representative of the secretary general for Iraq, said in a joint statement that children in war-torn areas have been unable to access basic services, including health and education, due to attacks on schools and hospitals.
“In Ramadi alone, a total of 45 schools have been destroyed or damaged as a result of the conflict since last year,” the statement said.
In recent years, bombings and shooting attacks — which often target civilians — have become a common occurrence in war-torn Iraq, especially Baghdad.
Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since June 2014, when Daesh overran Mosul — the country’s second largest city — before going on to capture additional territory in both Iraq and neighboring Syria.
