Children are seen eating at Mangaten camp in Juba, capital of South Sudan, Sept. 14, 2018. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan and humanitarian agencies have relocated about 3500 internally displaced people from the UN Protection of Civilians site (POCs) in Juba to Mangaten in the community. (Xinhua/Denis Elamu)

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The UN envoy for children and armed conflict on Monday deplored as dismaying the level of violence and brutality endured by children in South Sudan as shown in a new UN report.

According to the secretary-general's report on children and armed conflict in South Sudan, over 9,200 children of the unrest-ridden country were verified by the United Nations as victims of grave violations in the nearly four years it covered (Oct. 2014 - June 2018).

"Grave violations against children were often interconnected: abduction took place for the purpose of recruitment, boys and girls recruited were killed or maimed or sexually abused," said Virginia Gamba, special representative of the UN secretary-general for children and armed conflict.

"Many children were also used to commit atrocities against civilians and other children, thus perpetuating the cycle of violence," she added.

Across the country, more than 5,700 children were verified as having been recruited and used. In addition, almost 2,000 were abducted and more than 980 children were killed or maimed, both by government forces and armed groups, the report said.

Moreover, sexual violence, including against children, was used as a tactic of war and as a form of collective punishment.

More than 650 children were verified as sexually abused during the reporting period, with 75 percent of the cases involving gruesome gang rapes, the report said, noting the actual numbers were likely to be higher due to underreporting in fear of stigmatization.

Efforts to protect children, such as the UN's implementation of the Action Plan with the Sudan People's Liberation Army, was seriously disrupted by the outbreak of conflict during the reporting period, the report pointed out.

"It is urgent to address impunity for perpetrators and revise the existing Action Plan into a comprehensive one to end and prevent all grave violations against children," Gamba said.