Dem kill dem, maim dem, or force dem make dem become child soldiers.

New United Nations (UN) annual report wey dem call Children and Armed Conflict talk how war still dey devastate pikin life for conflict zones.

According to the report, more than 12,000 children were killed and injured in armed conflicts last year, a record number, with Afghanistan, Yemen, Palestine and Syria topping the casualty list.

The deaths and injuries are among more than 24,000 grave violations against children wey UN don verify.

These include recruitment and use of youngsters by combatants, sexual violence, abductions, and attacks on schools and hospitals.

The report talk say although violations by armed groups remain steady, there was an alarming increase in violations by governments and international forces compared to 2017.

But UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres long-awaited blacklist of countries wey dem accuse of committing severe violations nearly no change from last year, and that one vex many human rights groups.

They point out say Saudi-led coalition for Yemen still dey the list of parties wey dem say don put measures to protect children, despite the rise in child casualties.

Louis Charbonneau, UN Director at Human Rights Watch, say since 2015 the Saudi-led coalition don commit appalling violations against children in Yemen and there no clear evidence say dem dey try improve their record.

By including them again for the 'not so bad' category of serious reformers, the secretary-general dey make mockery of the whole exercise, Human Rights Watch complain.

The report also blame Israel for killing 59 Palestinian children and injuring 2,756 in 2018, the highest number since 2014. Six Israeli children were injured during the same period.

However, Israel was not blacklisted.

Since monitoring begin for 2005, verified cases of the killing and maiming of children reach record levels in 2018, according to UN Secretary-General Guterres.

Afghanistan and Syria top the list of countries with the most child casualties in armed conflict.

In 2018, Afghanistan had 3,062 child casualties and children accounted for 28 percent of all civilian casualties, while in Syria barrel bombs and cluster munitions killed and injured 1,854 youngsters.

In Yemen, 1,689 children bore the brunt of ground fighting and other offensives, the report said.

Jo Becker, Children’s Rights Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch, express concern say Israeli forces, US-led international forces in Afghanistan, and the Afghan National Army dey left off Guterres 'list of shame', and that the Somali National Army receive 'credit' for protecting children even though its violations increased.

More than 2,000 children, some as young as eight years old, were recruited by parties to the conflict in Somalia, with Al Shabab increasing its recruitment to 1,865.

YPG continues to recruit child soldiers

The report revealed that the terrorist PKK group's Syrian affiliate, YPG, recruited over 300 children and has also used schools as training grounds and ammunition depots in the region.

Nearly 40 percent of children recruited by terror groups were girls younger than 15 years old. 24 schools and hospitals were used as training grounds and 14 schools as ammunition depots.

Despite this, the US has been supporting the YPG with military provisions and training.

Earlier in July, Virginia Gamba, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Children in Armed Conflicts, met YPG leader Mazlum Abdi, also known as Ferhad Abdi Sahin or Sahin Cilo.

The YPG commander is on Turkey's most-wanted list.

The two signed an agreement in Geneva that aimed to end the use and recruitment by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella group dominated by the YPG, of individuals under the age of 18.

The meeting drew criticism from Ankara.

The Foreign Ministry said the signing of an agreement by the UN, which should be at the forefront in the fight against terror, with a terrorist organisation cannot be explained in any way, and that this is a clear violation of the UN's own decisions on terrorism.

The YPG has history of using child soldiers in its ranks. The group tricks families into giving up their children or kidnaps them, taking them to training camps.

Some are even exposed to drugs, so they can be used as suicide bombers or to fight on the front lines later.