Nigeria's Boko Haram conflict: Huge rise in child 'human bombs' Published duration 22 August 2017

image copyright AFP image caption The Boko Haram insurgency has devastated many lives across north-eastern Nigeria

There has been a significant increase in the number of children used as human bombs by Boko Haram militants in north-east Nigeria, the United Nations says.

Unicef reports there have been 83 cases so far this year - four times as many as in the whole of last year.

55 were girls under the age of 15 and in one case the bomb was strapped to a baby being carried by a young girl.

Unicef says this tactic is an atrocity causing fear and suspicion of children released by the militants.

According to the UN children's agency, 127 children have been used as bombers in north-east Nigeria since 2014.