Afghan children 'being abused'
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the government and armed groups in Afghanistan are perpetrating "grave abuses" against children by recruiting them to fight.
In some cases, the Taliban are turning them into suicide bombers.
In his first report to the UN Security Council on children and armed conflict in Afghanistan, Ban also called for greater attention to the problem of sexual abuse against children, especially boys, by members of the armed forces and armed groups.
The UN chief also raised the worrying increase in the number of child victims of attacks against schools and communities, and the ever increasing number of children inadvertently killed during engagements by international and Afghan forces.