Children continue to be recruited by armed forces since fighting erupted in South Sudan, according to the United Nations Children Fund or UNICEF.
UNICEF reports in a statement that over one thousand children have been recruited in 2016.
This brings the number of children to 17 thousand used in the conflict since 2013 and more killed, abducted and sexually assaulted, says UNICEF.
Since the first day of this conflict, children have been the ones most affected by the violations, Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala, UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa observes.
She says despite repeated pledges by all parties to end child recruitment; children are once again being targeted.
The UN has also received reports of grave violations against children in the Greater Equatoria region.
But UN could not verify these reports due to high insecurity and restricted access.
A total of 1,932 children have been released by armed forces and armed groups.