Boko Haram has been largely weakened since Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015, but the Lake Chad region remains unstable with some areas still completely inaccessible.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday that the number of children used in suicide attacks, by suspected Boko Haram terrorists, had surged to 27 in the first quarter of 2017.
"The alarming increase reflects the tactic of the insurgents".
Almost 80 per cent of the 117 suicide attacks since 2014 have used girls.
The UNICEF report documents troubling accounts by children who were held in captivity by Boko Haram and narrates the deep suspicion they are met with when they return to their communities. Those who have had any contact with Boko Haram often keep quiet about it for fear of how their communities will treat them.
As a reminder, the U.S' involvement in the fight against this group began in 2014 when it sent some 80 military personnel to Nigeria after Boko Haram Kidnapped 276 schoolgirls.
A total of 27 children have died so far this year after detonating bombs strapped to their bodies that they were ordered to carry into markets, checkpoints and other public places.
China reportedly sent 150000 troops to North Korea's border
No one has spoken of shooting down a North Korean missile unless it directly threatens the USA or its allies in East Asia. He said later on Wednesday the United States was prepared to tackle the crisis without China, if necessary.
Poirier said these children were victims and not willfully carrying out the attacks. "Forcing or deceiving them into committing such horrific acts is reprehensible", she said.
"For purposes of operational security, we do not comment on our security posture", State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington.
"Society's rejection of these children, and their sense of isolation and desperation, could be making them more vulnerable to promises of martyrdom through acceptance of risky and deadly missions", the UNICEF report read.
"There is no other testimony to defeat of Boko Haram than seeing a girl child in camps going to school".
Boko Haram specifically targeted girls for use as suicide bombers to take advantage of the fact that girls used to be perceived as less of a threat by security forces, Delvigne-Jean said.
Growing suspicionDada, 15 years old, and her daughter, Hussaina, 2 years old, at home in a host community shelter in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria on March 1, 2017. The Nigerian military has detained hundreds of children suspected of ties to Boko Haram.
He said the Chibok girls' third year anniversary should not be restricted to worrying about just the faith of the abducted girls; "but what it means to the entire children in the north-east".
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