For instance, two boys aged approximately 15 years old were killed at a farm by the #SNA during a security operation targeting Al-Shabaab in August 2017. https://twitter.com/G_OnTheGround/status/1337433843113062404

Between 2016 and 2019 the #SNA recruited 391 child soldiers and committed some 834 grave violations against children. The #UN has expressed concerns as these violations by government security forces have been growing in number.

The UN reported that IEDs were the leading weapon causing child casualties in Somalia; 158 children were killed or injured as a result of IEDs in 2019. Children were also harmed in the preparation of IED attacks.

On 15th March 2019, 10 boys were killed and 18 were wounded during a bomb-making training session for Al-Shabaab. Globally, in 2019 there were 927 attacks on schools and hospitals, 88 were in #Somalia, making Somalia’s schools and hospitals some of the most attacked in the world.

Between 2013 and 2017, over 100 schools were attacked in #Somalia. Between 2016 and 2019, the number of school attacks reached 203, whilst 80% of these were carried out by Al-Shabaab forces.

School attacks increased in this period largely due to attacks by Al-Shabaab in order to recruit children for military operations.

In 2019, school attacks in #Somalia involved the abduction of teachers and pupils, killing and threats against teachers, and destruction and looting of school facilities; marking a distinct targeting of children’s access to education & the associated social mobility this brings.

#Somalia had one of the highest rates of child abduction. The main perpetrator was Al-Shabaab, with 80% of verified cases (4,910), followed by the #SNA (391), the Somali police (172).

In 2019 alone, 1,442 boys and 53 girls were abducted, predominantly for recruitment purposes, sexual violence and ransom by non-state actors.

:- @AOAV https://aoav.org.uk/2020/the-impact-of-explosive-weapons-on-children-in-somalia/