U.N.: Islamic State crucifying, beheading, burying alive children

GENEVA, Switzerland, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- The United Nations said the Islamic State militant group tortures, rapes and kills children in Iraq, in some cases burying them alive or using them as suicide bombers.

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said the IS, also called the ISIL, abducts children and sells them as slaves.

"We have had reports of children, especially children that are mentally challenged, who have been used as suicide bombers, most probably without them even understanding what has happened or what they have to expect," said Renate Winter of the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child.

In a report issued in Geneva, the committee said it has seen "several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive."

The committee said it was concerned with "the high number of children who have been abducted by the so-called ISIL, many of whom are severely traumatized from witnessing the murder of their parents and are subjected to physical and sexual assault."

The U.N. urged Iraq to do more to protect the children and their families.