A/HRC/25/41 of child deaths and injuries, amounting to 448 casualties. In 2013, explosive remnants of war claimed the lives of 315 children, more than 83 per cent of them boys. Suicide attacks by AGEs resulted in 116 child casualties, with the highest numbers in the central region. Air strikes by international forces killed 35 children and injured 19 between January and November. 24. July and August 2013 were the worst months of the armed conflict on record for children, with 214 children killed and a further 196 wounded. At least 511 child casualties — one third of the total child casualties during the first 11 months of the year — were reported from the eastern region, a direct result of increased ground engagements between the parties to the conflict. In the southern region, 307 child casualties occurred during the first 11 months of 2013 and were mainly the result of IEDs. AGEs were responsible for more than 53 per cent of the total child casualties, pro-Government forces were responsible for 11 per cent, and 36 per cent remained unattributed to any party to the conflict. 25. Over 11 months, 91 incidents of attacks against schools and 34 incidents of attacks against hospitals were reported. UNAMA/OHCHR, in cooperation with other members of the United Nations-led Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting on grave violations against children in armed conflict, was able to verify 44 incidents of attacks against schools and 25 incidents of attacks against hospitals. Attacks against schools included deliberate targeting and incidents that impeded access to education, including crossfire incidents, IED detonations near schools and abductions, killing, injuring, intimidation and harassment of education personnel. Attacks against schools were mostly reported from the eastern, northern and the north-eastern regions. Unverified reports suggest that large numbers of schools remained closed in Nuristan, Helmand and Kandahar provinces due to insecurity and lack of teachers. Of the total verified reports of such attacks, 33 were attributed to AGEs, and three to ANSF, with the remaining eight unattributed. 26. Of the 38 reports of underage recruitment into armed groups and armed forces in 2013, UNAMA/OHCHR was able to verify 25 incidents. Of the verified incidents, 43 boys between the ages of 11 and 17 were recruited, allegedly to carry out different types of military activities, such as planting IEDs, transporting explosives, carrying out suicide attacks, conducting policing duties and taking part in armed clashes. Twenty of the 43 recruited boys allegedly lost their lives while planting or assembling IEDs or carrying out suicide attacks. During 2013, Kandahar and Helmand provinces in the south, Farah province in the west, and Paktya province in the southeast remained centres for child recruitment. Reportedly, AGEs were responsible for recruiting 29 boys, Afghan Local Police 13 boys and the Afghan National Police at least 1 boy. AGEs and Afghan security forces, namely the Afghan National Police and the Afghan Local Police, remain listed for child recruitment in the annual report of the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral for Children and Armed Conflict. 27. Grave violations against children also included abductions, with 13 verified incidents from the eastern, south-eastern and the southern regions of the country. At least 7 of the 27 victims were executed following abduction. Children were abducted for reasons including recruitment into armed groups, punishment for alleged suspicious activities or the activities of their family members, and reprisals. Seven incidents of sexual violence in the armed conflict were documented, of which four were verified. Three incidents in which four boys were abused were attributed to Afghan National Police and the Afghan Local Police, and one incident to the Taliban. AGEs, including the Taliban, denied humanitarian access in the areas under their control. UNAMA/OHCHR was able to verify 27 such incidents out of 40 reported. Verified incidents included abduction, intimidation, killing and injury of humanitarian staff, mostly of de-miners, denying access to vaccinators and causing damage to facilities run by humanitarian organizations. 8