Report Calls Children War’s Chief Victims

Children are even more likely than soldiers to be killed in wars, according to a report by the relief agency Save the Children. The group says 1.5 million children died in war zones in the last decade.

An additional 4 million children were permanently injured by bombs, bullets, land mines, chemical weapons and machete attacks, said the report, released Wednesday.

“The new world order has proved to be a world of disorder for civilians, and particularly children,” said Mike Aaronson, overseas director for Save the Children.

“Nine out of 10 casualties of war are civilians,” he said. “Children are very often the main casualties--and they are indeed much more likely to be casualties of war than are soldiers.”

Ten million children--one of every 200 worldwide--have been traumatized by the effects of war, 12 million have lost their homes and 5 million have been forced to live in refugee camps in the last decade, the report says.