A horrific incident of violence involving children was revealed today by the UN. Rebels in DR Congo tied explosive belts around twin babies as a trap for security forces.

The two one-year-old girls were found in a village in North Kivu, an area where the armed group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has increased bombings, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said.

The rebels planned to attack the babies upon the arrival of the police or the Congolese army so that there would be casualtiessaid Grant Lieti, UNICEF representative in Congo, during a press briefing in Geneva.

Fortunately, at the last moment the two little girls were saved and the explosives were removed by pyrotechnicians without detonating.

The twin sisters, who have not been identified, they are now recovering from malnutrition at a United Nations center before being put up for adoption.

Their parents were killed in an attack believed to have been carried out by the ADF.

Although recovery from malnutrition is easy, the psychological trauma can last a lifetime, Lietti commented.

“Children are raped and murdered every day”

The increased use of improvised explosive devices is just one of several “appalling trends” as violence against children reaches unprecedented levels in eastern Congo, he said.

“On a daily basis children are raped and killed. They are kidnapped, recruited and used by armed groups and we know that the information we have is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

The violence in Congo has caused one of the world’s worst and longest-running humanitarian crises with more than 27 million people facing food shortages and nearly 5.5 million forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

More than 2.8 million children are suffering the consequences of the crisis.