United Nations Radio

Children are the forgotten victims of the fighting in Afghanistan and continue to be neglected.

That's the assessment of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, (photo) who has just ended a 5-day visit to the country.

She says "Children are increasingly reported to be used by armed groups, including the Taliban, as combatants, porters of munitions, informants and in some cases as carriers of improvised explosive devices."

Ms. Coomaraswamy says "Continuing attacks by anti-government elements are also taking a heavy toll on children."

She says the detention of children for alleged association with armed groups by national and international entities and the lack of a clear and transparent procedure for dealing with them must be urgently addressed.

And she stressed that, "Monitoring bodies must have unimpeded access to all detention facilities."

Ms. Coomaraswamy says "Worrisome allegations about sexual violence against boys by armed actors should also be confronted despite their sensitive nature."

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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