Unidentified gunmen kidnapped 89 children Saturday in oil-rich Upper Nile state in South Sudan, according to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
"Gunmen gathered outside a residential area, and carried out the inspection from house to house, and kidnapped the children, the majority of whom over the age of 12 years," UNICEF said in a statement, Xinhua reported.
The organisation reported that the attack took place near Malakal city, capital of the Upper Nile state, where a camp for refugees has admitted thousands of displaced people who fled their villages because of violent fightings.
UNICEF's representative in South Sudan Jonathan Fitch warned that "kidnappers have violated the international law", adding that "the abduction and exploitation of children in the act of conflicts is in violation of international humanitarian law".
Armed confrontations erupted between the government army and dissidents loyal to Riek Machar, the former deputy president of South Sudan, in December 2013, after President Salva Kiir accused Machar of planning to carry out a coup against him.
The Human Rights Watch announced earlier that the parties to the conflict in South Sudan are continuing the recruitment of children for using as soldiers in the civil war.
