Boko Haram has increased the use of child suicide bombers over the last year, with one in five suicide attacks now carried out by children, UNICEF has revealed.
Girls, who are often drugged, were behind three-quarters of the suicide attacks conducted by the Islamists terror group in Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad.
There was an 11-fold increase in suicide bombings carried out by children, as the figure stood at 44 in 2015 including January 2016, compared to just 4 the previous year.
Analysts say this change in tactic points towards the loss of territory in Nigeria by the group.
Boko Haram has staged a seven-year insurgency in West Africa, with north-eastern Nigeria the most affected region as well as areas around Lake Chad.
The insurgency has left around 17,000 people dead with millions others displaced from their homes.
UNICEF reports that up to 1.3 million children have been forced from their homes across four countries in the region; Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger.
The UN report has been released ahead of the second anniversary of the kidnapping of more than 200 school girls from their boarding school in the Nigerian town of Chibok.
The report further says that boys abducted and recruited into Boko Haram’s ranks are forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty.
Girls on the other hand are exposed to severe abuse including sexual violence and forced marriages to fighters.
According to the report, Cameroon has the highest number of child suicide attacks, involving children who are as young as eight.
