UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called it unacceptable and appalling that more than 8,000 children were killed and injured in conflicts last year from Syria and Yemen to Congo and Afghanistan. The UN chief said Thursday in his annual report on Children and Armed Conflict that the UN verified 3,512 child casualties in Afghanistan, over 40 percent of the total and “the highest number ever recorded” in the country, AP reports. The recruitment and use of children in conflict more than doubled in Somalia and Syria compared with 2015. The UN verified 169 incidents affecting at least 1,022 youngsters in South Sudan - over 60 percent of them recruited and used by government security forces, Guterres said.