Armed Groups Killing, Recruiting More Children in Niger, Report Says

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST - Increasing numbers of children are being killed or targeted for recruitment by armed groups in conflicts raging at Niger’s borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, Amnesty International said in a report published Monday. 

"In Niger’s Tillaberi region, an entire generation is growing up surrounded by death and destruction," said Matt Wells, Amnesty's deputy director for crisis response.  "Armed groups have repeatedly attacked schools and reserves, and are targeting children for recruitment,” he added in a statement.   Amnesty blamed the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and the al-Qaida-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), for causing the "devastating impact on children" in the region.