Boko Haram crisis: 'Huge rise' in child suicide bombers

[muriel_volestrangler]

Boko Haram's use of child bombers has increased over the last year with one in five suicide attacks now done by children, the UN's child agency says.

Girls, who are often drugged, were behind three-quarters of such attacks committed by the militant Islamist group in Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad.

It is an 11-fold increase with four attacks in 2014 compared to 44 the next year, including January 2016.
...
The seven-year insurgency, which has mainly affected north-eastern Nigeria as well as its neighbours around Lake Chad, has left some 17,000 people dead.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-36023444

Since the Chibok girls’ abduction two years ago, thousands of other children have disappeared in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.
...
The Boko Haram insurgency has triggered the displacement of 2.3 million people since May 2013. In just one year, the number of displaced children increased by over 60 per cent, from 800,000 to 1.3 million children. This is one of the fastest growing displacement crises in Africa.
...
Boys are forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty to Boko Haram, while girls are exposed to severe abuse including sexual violence and forced marriage to fighters. Some are also used to carry or detonate bombs.

http://www.unicef.org/media/files/Beyond_Chibok.pdf

[maxsolomon]

1. NYT carried an article on Female suicide bombers on Monday

horrific. Boko Haram are using indoctrination and starvation, as well as rape, to coerce women to carry out the bombings. one girl assigned to attack a refugee camp dropped her bombs when she saw her parents there.

this is where all the chibok girls have gone, and given the landscape, it's amazing they can hide that many captives. if ever there was a situation calling for a stepped-up military response, to find and eliminate their lairs, this is it.

they've destroyed an entire society. who the fuck are these guys? what do they think they're accomplishing?

[enough]

2. What a complex way to murder children. Our species is truly amazing. (nt)