Global General

UN official 'appalled' over use of girl as suicide bomber

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-28 10:48

UNITED NATIONS -- Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special representative for children and armed conflict, on Monday was "appalled" over the use of a young girl as a suicide bomber in the Char Chino District of Afghanistan.

In a statement, Coomaraswamy said, "equally disturbing was a brutal attack on Akbar Khail hospital, also in Afghanistan."

"Attacks on hospitals are two-fold atrocities...Not only do they kill and wound girls and boys, they leave thousands of women and children without access to treatment," she said.

"The disgraceful act of putting a bomb in a little girl's basket and sending her, unknowing, to kill, is almost unimaginable. The group or individuals responsible must be brought to justice," she added.

As conflict changes, Coomaraswamy noted her "fear that we will only see more of these unconscionable methods deployed by those who do not respect fundamental rights of children."

The attack comes at a time when, following a recommendation by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his annual report on children and armed conflict, the Security Council is discussing the issue of attacks on schools and hospitals as a possible listing criteria for the secretary-general's list of shame of parties to conflict who violate children.

In this annual report, "a total of 197 education-related incidents throughout Afghanistan verified."

According to Reuters, an eight-year-old Afghan girl was handed a bag of explosives by Taliban insurgents which exploded as she reached a police outpost in southern Afghanistan. There were no police causalities.

Also, on Saturday, a suicide car blast ripped through a medical clinic in east Afghanistan, killing at least 35 people.

Saturday's attack left more than 50 others wounded, including women and children. Afghan authorities say the bomber blew up his sport utility vehicle outside the clinic, bringing the building down on those inside.